Higher Medicaid Payments Makes More Kids' Visits

A new study came to the conclusion that children on Medicaid visit dentists more frequently, if Medicaid pays the dentists more.

The study considered nationwide data for the years of 2000 and 2008, focusing on Medicaid payment levels to dentists.  The researchers also checked whether or not children had visited a dentist in the last 6 months.  "For each $10.00 increase in Medicaid payments, children on Medicaid were about 4% more likely to have a recent dental visit," the study says.

However, it turns out that children on Medicaid are less likely to visit dentist regularly than those with private insurance.  Only about half of children on Medicaid have regular dental visits.  The difference is tangible, specifically in comparison with the 68% of children who have private insurance.

Less Calcium Means Fewer Teeth?

In accordance with a Danish study, low calcium intake is linked with having fewer teeth.

The study which involved 1,602 adults, ages 30 to 60, was made by researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital.

One part of people kept a week record of what they ate, at the time when others were interviewed about their food habits. This info was used for estimation of the amount of calcium each person took in through food and drinks.

It turned out that more than a half of adults did not receive the recommended amount of daily calcium: 45% of women and nearly 55% of men did.