Latest news with #MassachusettsDentalSociety
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Fluoridation fight marks new pain point for dentists
BOSTON (SHNS) – Dr. Derek Song took the day off from his dental clinic in Burlington on Wednesday to urge Beacon Hill to support dentistry amidst threats to fluoridation and dental care coverage. 'Water fluoridation has been around for a number of years at a safe level, which is seven parts per million, which has been proven by science to be safe and effective,' Song said at a State House advocacy event. Song and other dentists with the Massachusetts Dental Society oppose a bill presented by Rep. Justin Thurber (H 2548) that would ban Massachusetts from putting fluoride in municipal water systems through fluoridation water additives. 'This is going to lead to rampant cavities everywhere. And you know who this is going to hit the most? Those in underserved communities, unfortunately, especially children,' Song said. Voters at Town Meeting in Somerset in May passed an article to remove fluoride from the town's drinking water. The article instructs the Board of Selectmen to petition the state for a home rule exemption so the town can enact a fluoride ban. On a national scale, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in April he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water. Song said that federal messaging is causing his patients to doubt what he called 'scientific and factual' dental health tools like fluoride. He added that the underserved communities that would be most impacted by fluoride bans are also the ones having challenges accessing dental care, which would be exacerbated by proposed Congressional cuts to Medicaid funding. 'This is really alarming. This is a public health crisis, and as a dentist, I just cannot sit idly by and let this happen,' Song told the News Service. The 'chief complaint' among Massachusetts dentists over the last three months has surrounded Medicaid reimbursements, according to Dental Society President Abe Abdul. 'The new vendor that has been hired to handle Medicaid is failing, and doctors, dentists, practices are not being paid, essentially, for the work that's being done, simply because they transitioned vendors and there's an issue with the transition,' Abdul said. Dentists continue to face a shortage of dental hygienists, Abdul said, despite a 2024 law that allows foreign-trained hygienists to get a license in Massachusetts. 'It's law now, but it's still stuck in the regulatory phase. They need to create the regulations. I guarantee you, you ask any office, you go to any dental practice, people can't get in because they can't get a hygienist,' Abdul said, adding that he has not heard of a regulatory or implementation process timeline. Dentists say a different bill (H 1262) the Society opposes creates 'loopholes' in a 2022 voter law that created a dental loss ratio, mandating dental insurance companies spend 83% of their revenue on direct patient care. Dentists pointed to a Sen. John Cronin bill (S 704) as a way to form a more transparent relationship between practices and insurers by disclosing virtual credit card payment fees. 'We don't know about these fees until we type them into the computer through our Merchant Services and then find out, 'Oh, great, we're going to lose 5% of that income,'' Dr. Tej Shah said. 'We have to pay ridiculous fees just to get paid for the services that we did.' 'A check for $100 is $100. In a credit card, $100 — they get as much as maybe 3% cash back. So they only pay $97. And then, because of the overhead of using a virtual credit card, we might get as much as a 5% fee. So then it's only $95 to us,' Shah, who runs Zen Family Dental in Ashland, said. Every time that happens, Shah said, he has to make a phone call to get that switched. The overhead fees only add to 'skyrocketing' inflation for the price of dentistry materials. 'We don't know how much our composites are going to cost in the next couple months, because, tariffs, inflation, everything else. Patients are also feeling the pinch. So they're less likely to pay for things, because they're also uncertain… so maybe they won't even [get] certain treatments.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. takes aim at fluoridated drinking water, which Mass. Dental Society firmly opposes
It is considered one of the greatest public health discoveries ever. Around the turn of the last century, dentists in the U.S. and Italy noticed that a distinctive discoloration of teeth — known as mottling — was accompanied by a lack of cavities. That mottling was traced to an excess of fluoride in water. Researchers later found that lowering the fluoride levels stopped that dental discoloration — while maintaining the compound's cavity-fighting power. And thus was born the practice of adding fluoride to municipal drinking water — a practice that began eighty years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan — and spread rapidly in the following decades. Five years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set as a goal of its Health People 2030 campaign, 77% access to fluoridated drinking water in the United States. Enter Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Tuesday, the HHS Secretary announced plans to end government recommendations to fluoridate drinking water. Kennedy cited an analysis by the federal National Toxicology Program which found, with moderate confidence, that excessive ingestion of fluoride could lower IQs in children. But that possible side effect was seen at fluoride levels double what the government considers safe – and the analysis could not find evidence of such harm at recommended fluoride levels. Kennedy's proposal is the culmination of a larger and longer campaign to eliminate fluoride from drinking water. The Fluoride Action Network lists 500 communities worldwide that have rejected fluoridation over the last 35 years. They include large cities, such as Portland, Oregon, and many, many smaller towns. 'There is proven benefit when it comes to the teeth from fluoride,' said Monica Anand, DMD, owner of Westwood Dentistry. 'The concern is that as a society we've just overdone it.' Anand said one of the concerns is the high reactivity of fluoride, which is chemically known as a halogen. That group of compounds combines readily with other molecules to form salts and acids. 'Topically, fluoride strengthens the teeth,' Anand said. 'If there is excessive fluoride in your bloodstream it can actually affect your health systemically.' And, as Anand points out, anything that goes in the mouth, gets absorbed to some extent or another. But the Massachusetts Dental Society is firmly in fluoride's corner. 'There have been studies over the last 75 years that have shown the safety and efficacy of fluoride,' said MDS Vice-President Steven Spitz, DMD. 'There is not one study showing the opposite. No one's getting rich having fluoride in the water. In fact, we're just trying to protect the public.' Spitz called RFK Jr.'s campaign against fluoride as extremely shortsighted, given the link between oral and systemic health. 'The Massachusetts Dental Society remains in complete support of fluoride,' he said. 'It is widely recognized as a public health benefit thanks to the critical role it has in preventing tooth decay.' Still, some aren't sold on fluoride. For those patients, Anand recommends toothpastes and mouthwashes which contain hydroxyapitite — a compound found in human and animal bones. 'It's an alternative to fluoride that can help strengthen your teeth without having to worry about excessive exposure to fluoride,' Anand said. 'Hydroxyapitite is a natural mineral of what your your enamel — your teeth — are made of.' Products containing hydroxyapitite are likely to be more expensive than those containing fluoride — and while the compound is proven to help teeth overcome small cavities, some feel more study needs to be done to see how it stacks up against fluoride. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
