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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
America's Dental Health Is in Trouble
Credit - Photo Illustration by Chloe Dowling (Source Image:) Not long ago, Dr. Suzanne Fournier saw a 16-year-old patient with a swollen face and difficulty breathing. Fournier, a dentist who practices at an urban hospital in Louisiana, had to extract six of the teen's teeth; he was eventually intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit because his airways had closed up. He survived, but Fournier is worried that there will be more children like him across the country who could come close to death because of the state of their oral health. 'I really worry that someone is going to die because they have an abscessed cavity that develops into an infection, and they won't be able to access care,' she says. In the U.S., 27% of adults don't have dental insurance, according to the most recent State of Oral Health Equity in America by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of better oral health care. That's about 72 million Americans. By comparison, 9.5% of adults don't have health insurance. And though many children can get dental care through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), low reimbursement rates mean that many dentists won't accept those insurance plans, leading to dental-care deserts across the country. Only about half of all children on Medicaid used any dental service in a year, according to an analysis by KFF. Now, dentists say they're worried that a perfect storm of public-policy changes could further worsen oral health across the country. Proposed cuts to Medicaid would mean that fewer people will be able access dental care, as federal government staffing purges target places like the prevention division of oral health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). What's more, as states including Florida and Utah vote to ban the addition of fluoride to drinking water and other states consider similar bans, dentists say the oral health of children and adults will suffer. 'We are already facing an oral health crisis,' says Melissa Burroughs, director of public policy for CareQuest. 'Medicaid cuts and water fluoridation rollbacks are the two biggest ways in which the oral health crisis is likely to be exacerbated.' America has long separated dental health from medical health. In most cases, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for older adults, doesn't cover dental care at all. Dental care through Medicaid varies tremendously from state to state, and states are not required to include dental coverage for adults, though they are required to include it for children. People going onto the Affordable Health Care marketplace for health plans can't purchase a dental insurance plan independently unless they also purchase a medical health plan. And subsidies offered to lower-income families on the health marketplace don't apply to dental plans. Even those people with dental insurance coverage often find that their plans don't cover much outside of a dental cleaning and check-up. About 40% of adults who have health insurance don't get regular dental care, according to one recent survey from the PAN Foundation, a health care advocacy organization. Not having dental health care can come with major consequences. Tooth decay and gum disease can exacerbate other health conditions and lead to heart disease, low birth weight in pregnancy, and even respiratory disease. Adults who present to emergency departments for tooth pain often end up with opioid prescriptions, which can lead to addiction. If children's teeth hurt, they may have trouble eating, leading to poor nutrition; if they're in pain, they're likely to sleep poorly. The CDC estimates that 34 million school hours are lost each year because of unplanned dental issues. Read More: The Science Behind Fluoride in Drinking Water 'You can find lots of studies that find associations between poor dental care and things like pneumonia and diabetes and heart disease,' says Dr. Lisa Simon, an internal medicine specialist who started her career as a dentist and then went to medical school to focus on oral health care. 'But even if you didn't think about any of those things, how important is it to have a central feature in our face look the way we want to, and not live with pain, and be able to take in nutrition?' Simon practices in Massachusetts, a state with one of the best dental safety nets in the country, and generous Medicaid benefits compared to those in other states. But she still sees people who have ended up in the ICU because of life-threatening sepsis from a tooth infection, patients who can't start chemotherapy because they can't pay to remove their infected teeth, people who won't even let her look into their mouths because they're so ashamed. In Massachusetts, fewer than one third of dentists accept Medicaid, which is close to the national average. 'I have gone down to Haiti nine times, and I have never seen the level of decay that I saw when I worked in Florida,' says Fournier, the Louisiana dentist, who previously practiced in Florida. She and other dentists worry that looming Medicaid cuts would exacerbate the problem; when state budgets are tight, dental care is often one of the first things to go. Massachusetts, for instance, cut Medicaid coverage for adult dental care in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession; dental-related visits at a safety-net hospital increased 14% in the two years after the Medicaid cuts. Fournier recently testified before the Louisiana House of Representatives about Senate Bill 2, which sought to make it more difficult for localities to add fluoride to their drinking water. (In Louisiana, only about 38% of people are served by community water systems that fluoridate their water.) The bill was voted down in committee, but bills to restrict access to fluoride have been introduced in other states, including North Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Nebraska, according to CareQuest. Bills to ban the addition of fluoride in public drinking water have already passed in Utah and Florida. Some local counties have already voted in 2025 to ban fluoride independently. They are likely influenced by the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He has called fluoride a 'dangerous neurotoxin' and has said he wants the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation. In May, the FDA announced that it was trying to remove ingestible fluoride tablets from the market. Read More: What to Do If Fluoride Is Removed From Your Water Dentists predict long-term and costly health problems if communities continue to remove fluoride from the water. One recent study published in JAMA Health Forum found that the elimination of fluoride from the public water supply would be associated with a 7.5% increase in tooth decay and cost about $9.8 billion over five years. Places that have taken fluoride out of their water supply have seen an increase in dental problems; in Canada, for instance, Calgary removed fluoride in 2011, saw a significant increase in cavities, and is now reversing course and adding fluoride back in. Dr. Jeff Otley, a practicing dentist in Florida's panhandle, says he noticed when his region stopped fluoridating its water in 2014. He saw an increase in the number and severity of cavities in kids. The recent ban on fluoridation in Florida is going to affect kids and adults, he says, especially because Florida's Medicaid program offers barely any benefits for adults. 'We are going to have more disease, larger cavities, and some of these kids are going to have to go to the hospital because their cavities are going to be so bad,' he says. Oral health advocates say that in recent years, the country had been making some progress in improving access to dental care. For instance, a bill introduced in the Senate in March would require Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing. And some states have, in the last few years, expanded Medicaid benefits to cover adult dental services. This can end up saving money in the long run; when Colorado chose to expand Medicaid adult dental benefits under the Affordable Care Act, one safety-net provider saw a 22% decrease in tooth extractions, according to CareQuest. When states increase how much dentists can be reimbursed through Medicaid, more dentists sign up as Medicaid providers, which has been shown to increase children's dental visits. But advocates say they're worried that all of this progress is now going to be reversed, and that oral health in the U.S., especially for children, is going to suffer. Read More: How Having a Baby Is Changing Under Trump 'I think we're at this balancing point where if we can keep things moving forward, there is the real opportunity for millions of people to get dental care,' says Simon, the Boston doctor and dentist. 'But we've seen this before—anytime there's a budget shortfall, dental care is the first thing on the chopping block.' The irony of this to many dentists is that providing people with preventative care can actually save states money over time. Children on Medicaid who received fluoride treatments saved between $88 and $156 each for their state programs, one study found. Water fluoridation is another preventative policy that saves money: In 2024, the CDC estimated that providing communities with fluoridated water for one year saves $6.5 billion in dental treatment costs and leads to 25% fewer cavities. But some of these preventative ideas aren't likely to go far, says Amy Niles, the chief mission officer of the Pan Foundation. 'In this country, we don't always embrace the importance and value of preventative care to prevent disease later on,' she says. Fournier, the Louisiana dentist, is relieved that her testimony and that of other medical professionals helped persuade Louisiana legislators to ditch the fluoride bill. But she still chafes at a health care system that makes it so hard to provide preventative care for oral health. 'Our goal is aligned with RFK Jr.'s, which is to make Americans healthy,' she said in her testimony. But, she says, America doesn't seem interested in waging a war on the No. 1 chronic disease in children: tooth decay. 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Time Magazine
4 days ago
- Health
- Time Magazine
America's Dental Health Is in Trouble
Not long ago, Dr. Suzanne Fournier saw a 16-year-old patient with a swollen face and difficulty breathing. Fournier, a dentist who practices at an urban hospital in Louisiana, had to extract six of the teen's teeth; he was eventually intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit because his airways had closed up. He survived, but Fournier is worried that there will be more children like him across the country who could come close to death because of the state of their oral health. 'I really worry that someone is going to die because they have an abscessed cavity that develops into an infection, and they won't be able to access care,' she says. In the U.S., 27% of adults don't have dental insurance, according to the most recent State of Oral Health Equity in America by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of better oral health care. That's about 72 million Americans. By comparison, 9.5% of adults don't have health insurance. And though many children can get dental care through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), low reimbursement rates mean that many dentists won't accept those insurance plans, leading to dental-care deserts across the country. Only about half of all children on Medicaid used any dental service in a year, according to an analysis by KFF. Now, dentists say they're worried that a perfect storm of public-policy changes could further worsen oral health across the country. Proposed cuts to Medicaid would mean that fewer people will be able access dental care, as federal government staffing purges target places like the prevention division of oral health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). What's more, as states including Florida and Utah vote to ban the addition of fluoride to drinking water and other states consider similar bans, dentists say the oral health of children and adults will suffer. 'We are already facing an oral health crisis,' says Melissa Burroughs, director of public policy for CareQuest. 'Medicaid cuts and water fluoridation rollbacks are the two biggest ways in which the oral health crisis is likely to be exacerbated.' Why dental care is an afterthought America has long separated dental health from medical health. In most cases, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for older adults, doesn't cover dental care at all. Dental care through Medicaid varies tremendously from state to state, and states are not required to include dental coverage for adults, though they are required to include it for children. People going onto the Affordable Health Care marketplace for health plans can't purchase a dental insurance plan independently unless they also purchase a medical health plan. And subsidies offered to lower-income families on the health marketplace don't apply to dental plans. Even those people with dental insurance coverage often find that their plans don't cover much outside of a dental cleaning and check-up. About 40% of adults who have health insurance don't get regular dental care, according to one recent survey from the PAN Foundation, a health care advocacy organization. Not having dental health care can come with major consequences. Tooth decay and gum disease can exacerbate other health conditions and lead to heart disease, low birth weight in pregnancy, and even respiratory disease. Adults who present to emergency departments for tooth pain often end up with opioid prescriptions, which can lead to addiction. If children's teeth hurt, they may have trouble eating, leading to poor nutrition; if they're in pain, they're likely to sleep poorly. The CDC estimates that 34 million school hours are lost each year because of unplanned dental issues. 'You can find lots of studies that find associations between poor dental care and things like pneumonia and diabetes and heart disease,' says Dr. Lisa Simon, an internal medicine specialist who started her career as a dentist and then went to medical school to focus on oral health care. 'But even if you didn't think about any of those things, how important is it to have a central feature in our face look the way we want to, and not live with pain, and be able to take in nutrition?' Simon practices in Massachusetts, a state with one of the best dental safety nets in the country, and generous Medicaid benefits compared to those in other states. But she still sees people who have ended up in the ICU because of life-threatening sepsis from a tooth infection, patients who can't start chemotherapy because they can't pay to remove their infected teeth, people who won't even let her look into their mouths because they're so ashamed. In Massachusetts, fewer than one third of dentists accept Medicaid, which is close to the national average. 'I have gone down to Haiti nine times, and I have never seen the level of decay that I saw when I worked in Florida,' says Fournier, the Louisiana dentist, who previously practiced in Florida. She and other dentists worry that looming Medicaid cuts would exacerbate the problem; when state budgets are tight, dental care is often one of the first things to go. Massachusetts, for instance, cut Medicaid coverage for adult dental care in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession; dental-related visits at a safety-net hospital increased 14% in the two years after the Medicaid cuts. Fluoride bans are worrying dentists Fournier recently testified before the Louisiana House of Representatives about Senate Bill 2, which sought to make it more difficult for localities to add fluoride to their drinking water. (In Louisiana, only about 38% of people are served by community water systems that fluoridate their water.) The bill was voted down in committee, but bills to restrict access to fluoride have been introduced in other states, including North Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Nebraska, according to CareQuest. Bills to ban the addition of fluoride in public drinking water have already passed in Utah and Florida. Some local counties have already voted in 2025 to ban fluoride independently. They are likely influenced by the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He has called fluoride a 'dangerous neurotoxin' and has said he wants the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation. In May, the FDA announced that it was trying to remove ingestible fluoride tablets from the market. Dentists predict long-term and costly health problems if communities continue to remove fluoride from the water. One recent study published in JAMA Health Forum found that the elimination of fluoride from the public water supply would be associated with a 7.5% increase in tooth decay and cost about $9.8 billion over five years. Places that have taken fluoride out of their water supply have seen an increase in dental problems; in Canada, for instance, Calgary removed fluoride in 2011, saw a significant increase in cavities, and is now reversing course and adding fluoride back in. Dr. Jeff Otley, a practicing dentist in Florida's panhandle, says he noticed when his region stopped fluoridating its water in 2014. He saw an increase in the number and severity of cavities in kids. The recent ban on fluoridation in Florida is going to affect kids and adults, he says, especially because Florida's Medicaid program offers barely any benefits for adults. 'We are going to have more disease, larger cavities, and some of these kids are going to have to go to the hospital because their cavities are going to be so bad,' he says. Out-of-reach solutions Oral health advocates say that in recent years, the country had been making some progress in improving access to dental care. For instance, a bill introduced in the Senate in March would require Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing. And some states have, in the last few years, expanded Medicaid benefits to cover adult dental services. This can end up saving money in the long run; when Colorado chose to expand Medicaid adult dental benefits under the Affordable Care Act, one safety-net provider saw a 22% decrease in tooth extractions, according to CareQuest. When states increase how much dentists can be reimbursed through Medicaid, more dentists sign up as Medicaid providers, which has been shown to increase children's dental visits. But advocates say they're worried that all of this progress is now going to be reversed, and that oral health in the U.S., especially for children, is going to suffer. 'I think we're at this balancing point where if we can keep things moving forward, there is the real opportunity for millions of people to get dental care,' says Simon, the Boston doctor and dentist. 'But we've seen this before—anytime there's a budget shortfall, dental care is the first thing on the chopping block.' The irony of this to many dentists is that providing people with preventative care can actually save states money over time. Children on Medicaid who received fluoride treatments saved between $88 and $156 each for their state programs, one study found. Water fluoridation is another preventative policy that saves money: In 2024, the CDC estimated that providing communities with fluoridated water for one year saves $6.5 billion in dental treatment costs and leads to 25% fewer cavities. But some of these preventative ideas aren't likely to go far, says Amy Niles, the chief mission officer of the Pan Foundation. 'In this country, we don't always embrace the importance and value of preventative care to prevent disease later on,' she says. Fournier, the Louisiana dentist, is relieved that her testimony and that of other medical professionals helped persuade Louisiana legislators to ditch the fluoride bill. But she still chafes at a health care system that makes it so hard to provide preventative care for oral health. 'Our goal is aligned with RFK Jr.'s, which is to make Americans healthy,' she said in her testimony. But, she says, America doesn't seem interested in waging a war on the No. 1 chronic disease in children: tooth decay.
Business Wire
21-05-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
New Report: 72 Million Adults in the US Lack Dental Insurance, Nearly Three Times the Number Without Health Insurance
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new report from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health ® reveals that 27% of US adults — an estimated 72 million people — do not have dental insurance, nearly three times the number of adults who lack health insurance (9.5%, or 26 million). The findings, from the latest State of Oral Health Equity in America (SOHEA) survey, underscore a persistent and troubling gap in access to dental care. Lack of dental insurance puts adults at risk for delayed treatment and worsening oral health, which is closely tied to broader health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and even dementia. 'These findings reinforce the fact that oral health care is too expensive and out of reach for too many families in America,' said Melissa Burroughs, Senior Director of Public Policy at CareQuest Institute. 'Gaps in dental insurance force families to make impossible tradeoffs between things like putting food on the table and getting the care they need — any cuts to the Medicaid program would only make this problem worse. It's time for policy solutions that address our nation's oral health, starting by preserving Medicaid adult dental coverage.' The report, Out of Pocket: A Snapshot of Adults' Dental and Medical Care Coverage, also finds that: Adults with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to lack dental insurance. 40% of adults without a high school diploma and 38% of those earning under $30,000 annually are uninsured for dental care. One-third of adults with Medicare or Medicaid lack dental coverage. Traditional Medicare does not include dental services, and Medicaid adult dental coverage varies widely by state. More than 80% of adults without health insurance also lack dental insurance. Nearly one in four adults with dental insurance gained it in the last year, either by changing from a previous insurance plan to a new plan or by enrolling in an insurance plan after being uninsured. Among adults currently without dental insurance, 12% lost coverage in the past year, disproportionately affecting younger adults and Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and Hispanic adults. Despite growing recognition that oral health is essential to overall health, significant policy gaps remain. Medicare does not guarantee dental coverage, Medicaid coverage for adults is optional and inconsistent across states, and marketplace dental plans often lack affordability and accessibility, with no subsidies available. The SOHEA survey is the largest nationally representative survey focused exclusively on oral health attitudes, behaviors, and experiences among adults. Conducted from March to May 2024 by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, the study reflects the voices of more than 9,000 adults nationwide. The full report is available here. About CareQuest Institute for Oral Health ® CareQuest Institute for Oral Health ® is a national nonprofit championing a more equitable future where every person can reach their full potential through excellent health. We do this through our work in philanthropy, analytics and data insights, health transformation, policy and advocacy, and education, as well as our leadership in dental benefits and innovation advancements. We collaborate with thought leaders, health care providers, patients, and local, state, and federal stakeholders to accelerate oral health care transformation and create a system designed for everyone. To learn more, visit and follow us on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Business Wire
13-05-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
New Report: People with Disabilities Face Major Barriers to Accessing Oral Health Care
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to new data released today by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health®, adults with disabilities face major barriers to accessing oral health care and are at greater risk for poor oral health outcomes. 'People with disabilities deserve the basic right to access the care they need, yet they continue to face significant obstacles in receiving adequate dental care,' said Melissa Burroughs, Director of Public Policy at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Share This data comes from the annual State of Oral Health Equity in America (SOHEA) survey, the largest nationally representative survey focused on adults' attitudes, experiences, and behaviors related to oral health. Findings from the report show that for adults reporting at least one disability, factors including income, education, and having dental insurance are often linked to oral health outcomes such as self-rated oral health, recency of the last dental visit, having a dental home, and visiting an Emergency Department (ED) for dental care. 'People with disabilities deserve the basic right to access the care they need, yet they continue to face significant obstacles in receiving adequate dental care,' said Melissa Burroughs, Director of Public Policy at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. 'This report gives us actionable insights to help guide our efforts to reduce inequities and improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.' The results of the report reveal the following: Fewer adults with a disability reported a dental visit in the past 12 months (56%) compared to those without a disability (70%). Nearly a third of adults with a disability say their dental office doesn't provide special help and/or accommodations for their dental visit. Adults with a disability are less likely to have dental insurance (66%) than those without one (76%). One-quarter of adults with a disability (25%) said they delayed care, missed an appointment, or were unable to obtain needed health care, including oral health care. Adults with a disability have significantly higher odds of reporting fair/poor oral health compared to adults without a disability. More adults with a disability have visited an emergency department for dental care than adults without one. To improve access to oral health care for people with disabilities, the report recommends enhancing Medicare and Medicaid coverage for adult dental care, providing additional training for providers on treating people with disabilities, and integrating medical and dental care with specialty oral health care. Read the full report here.
Boston Globe
17-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Myechia Minter-Jordan heads to D.C. to lead the AARP, advocate for Social Security
Minter-Jordan started in the chief executive job in November, taking over for Jo Ann Jenkins , leading an organization with around 39 million members, about 2,700 employees, and annual revenue of $1.7 billion. She said she took the job in part because it would allow her to have an even broader national impact than where she previously worked, the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health . But doing so means she'll leave Boston: She already has a home in Washington, where AARP is headquartered, and is putting her family's West Roxbury home on the market. Advertisement She'll miss the incredible network she established in Boston, led by other prominent people of color such as Bennie Wiley and Carol Fulp . Minter-Jordan moved here in 2007 from Baltimore to be chief medical officer at the Dimock Center in Roxbury, and eventually became its chief executive. She also became a mover and shaker in Boston, and helped launch the New Commonwealth Fund for racial equity and social justice in 2020. Boston, she said, can be a hard place to break into as an executive, because it's a city with a firmly entrenched power structure. Advertisement 'I'm grateful for all the support I received from many of those people,' Minter-Jordan said of her Boston network. 'When you have that network, it really supports you as a leader.' A win for Corporate Boston Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was at the grand opening of The Lyndia, New England's largest permanent supportive housing development, in Jamaica Plain. She was greeted by Lyndia Downie, president and executive director of the Pine Street Inn. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff The grand opening of a 202-unit apartment building in Jamaica Plain last week marked a big victory for Lyndia Downie , her team at the Pine Street Inn , and her development partners at The Community Builders . After all, with 140 apartments for people who will continue to receive support from Pine Street Inn as they move out of homelessness, It also represented a victory for Corporate Boston — by showing what can happen when many of the city's largest employers band together. Corporate donors kicked in more than $6 million toward a $10 million initiative known as the Way Home Fund, providing financial support for services at the JP building that range from helping people establish credit scores to ensuring they're current with medical appointments. The initiative began as then-mayor Martin J. Walsh started his second term as mayor in 2018. He led the effort to prod some big names to open their checkbooks, Downie said. Five committed to $1 million each: MassMutual , Bank of America , Liberty Mutual , Mass General Brigham , and Suffolk Construction . Other donors included TD Bank , Eastern Bank , Eversource , Related Beal , and Natixis . (Separately from the fund, developer HYM Investment Group kicked in $5 million as a linkage payment to the city, to help win approval for its massive Advertisement While he knows of examples in other US cities, The Community Builders chief executive Bart Mitchell said this is the first time he's seen a corporate fund-drive of this scope for a project like this in Boston. TCB developed the $105 million project and assembled the financing, which included money from federal tax credit investors as well as state and city subsidies. Formerly homeless residents in the 140 units pay one-third of their income for rent; the 62 remaining units in the building (dubbed 'The Lyndia' in honor of Downie's career fighting homelessness as Pine Street Inn's president) are available at subsidized rates to lower-income earners. The 166,000-square-foot 'The opening of the JP building, it really was a huge community effort,' Downie said. 'It is the best of who we are, in my opinion, when we can make all these things happen, and get at a really sticky problem. The fact that the corporations are willing to support this, it gives us a lot of confidence in the model and confidence that maybe we can replicate this.' Betting on bricks at Legacy Place Halloween Crawl for a Cause at Legacy Place in Dedham features trick-or-treating for the family and specialty beverages for the adults. Brad Bahner/Brad Bahner/Legacy Place Ron Dickerman always figured he would return to Massachusetts after leaving for business school at Columbia University in the 1980s. Instead, he stayed in New York, first working in investment banking, and then in private equity. But the Lexington native does return for one important reason: to shop for real estate investment opportunities. Dickerman just inked a deal for his private equity firm, Madison International Realty , to buy a 50 percent stake in Legacy Place , the nearly 500,000-square-foot open-air shopping center in Dedham. Dickerman's firm acquired the stake held by Nuveen in the partnership that owns Legacy Place, for an undisclosed amount. The other partners are WS Development and the Redstone family's National Amusements Inc. , which jointly developed the project more than 15 years ago. (Madison and WS are also partners in MarketStreet Lynnfield , and Madison also is investing in lab developer IQHQ 's Fenway Center project.) Advertisement Despite the rise of online shopping, Dickerman is still a big believer in bricks-and-mortar. He notes that Legacy draws regular customers from as far away as 30 miles, because of the tenant mix — it's essentially full — and the experience. The retail sector appears to be stabilizing, particularly because so few new shopping centers were built across the country in recent years. 'There's been so much dislocation with Amazon and home delivery,' Dickerman said. 'In our view, retail is finally starting to catch an equilibrium.' Crossing out X from PR strategy A local PR firm is recommending that municipal and public safety clients phase out their use of X (formerly known as Twitter). Tuane Fernandes/Bloomberg Scratch X, formerly known as Twitter, off the list of social media sites for local publicity firm John Guilfoil Public Relations . JGPR sent out an email last month announcing it would no longer recommend the site to its public safety clients. The reason? It has nothing to do with the controversies surrounding owner Elon Musk and his chaotic attempts to dismantle much of the federal government. Instead, the site simply isn't getting anywhere near the engagement levels it once did. Founder John Guilfoil said a survey by his firm drew responses from nearly 150 police, fire, and municipal government agencies across the country, along with 17 news outlets, from mid-December to mid-February. Nearly 40 percent said their use of Twitter/X has greatly decreased in the past two years, and roughly three-fourths said they interact with a member of the public on it less than once a month. 'We would have been measuring that in a matter of minutes or hours with a client five years ago,' he said. Advertisement One big reason: In early 2023, soon after Musk's buyout, Twitter announced it would no longer grant users free access to its Application Programming Interface platform, making it more difficult to use, particularly with other digital tools. Guilfoil still recommends that clients use Facebook , and LinkedIn is helpful because it's usually not blocked by workplace firewalls. While he said the survey has been accused of being part of a left-wing conspiracy, he simply wants to be an effective communications rep for clients. 'History tells us,' Guilfoil says, 'that every one of these internet services will eventually disappear and die.' Jon Chesto can be reached at
