06/10/2025

America’s Dental Health Is in Trouble

Why dental care is an afterthought in the U.S.

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 (ICU) because his airways had closed.

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 said.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.