Earlier this year, Delta Dental Plans Association released the 2024 State of America’s Oral Health and Wellness Report. In the report, we learned that while Americans understand the connection between their overall health and oral health, they are not necessarily adjusting their habits when it comes to their oral health routines — including scheduling annual preventive appointments.
Some of the findings were very positive. For example, two out of every three Americans have access to dental insurance. This is great news for employers and their employees. When employees have access to dental insurance, they are more likely to go to the dentist and use their benefits. This also means that as the number of preventive care visits increases, the number of emergency visits decreases. It is estimated that dental issues cost employers as much as $45 billion annually due to absenteeism and lost productivity.
Prevention is key
With dental insurance, most plans will typically cover up to two preventive exams at no additional cost. It’s important for your employees to recognize the value of these appointments. Not only can preventive exams help identify oral health concerns, but dentists can also spot indications of more severe health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease. By catching these issues early, they can be treated faster, which saves the employee the expense of more costly treatments down the road.
Guess who’s not going to the dentist
Delta Dental of Iowa completed our own regional research in 2023 on the topic of preventive care. We discovered that men, ages 27-44 were most likely to skip annual dental exams. Interestingly, this age group understands the health benefits of quality oral care, and they remember going to the dentist regularly as a child. As adults, however, they simply haven’t made this a priority.
Our mission – get more people to the dentist
At Delta Dental we are on a mission to improve the health and smiles of the people we serve. So, to help employers encourage their employees to get regular dental exams, we are launching a new education campaign. Through this campaign, Delta Dental has created some fun new materials including:
- Posters for use in your breakrooms or other common employee areas
- Mirror clings for use in employee restrooms
Take action to help your employees
The development of more serious dental issues can be headed off with a simple preventive step. Encourage your employees to use their preventive care appointments for the benefit of a healthier life.
If your employees could use some extra motivation to get their preventive exams, contact Delta Dental at [email protected] to request posters and mirror clings for your workplace.
