Oral Health

Oral health is a growing concern in the world today. Oral diseases comprise some of the
most common chronic infections today and are becoming a public health concern due to their
prevalence, the expense of their treatments, and the impact on the individual and the society.
Oral health determines the psychological and physical aspects of human life since it determines
how people taste food, speak, socialize, look, enjoy life, and their social wellbeing feelings
(WHO, 2005). The United States is one of the hotspots of oral health diseases. Despite
significant improvements in oral health in the country, the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) indicates that oral health disparities exist in ethnic and racial groups by
gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and age (CDC, 2020). These disparities in
oral health in the United States are attributed to the differences in lifestyle behaviors, including
poor dietary choices, frequency of alcohol usage, and tobacco use, which is one of the leading
causes of oral diseases (Akintobi et al., 2018) . Access to health services is also associated with
poor oral health. This paper will discuss the oral health issue among African American adults
with less than a high school education the goals of Healthy People 2020 on oral health.
Oral Health Disparities in the United States
The oral disparities in the United States have been recorded over a long time, and the
trends indicate that oral health concerns are associated with socioeconomic factors. According
to data available from the CDC, Hispanics, Non-Hispanic Blacks, and American Indians have
the worst oral health across the nation (CDC, 2020). Children aged between 3 and 9 years
among these populations also record high rates of oral health issues. Additionally, non-
Hispanics, blacks, and Mexican American adults between 35 and 44 years have recorded a high

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rate of untreated tooth decay than other racial compositions in the United States (Muthra et al.,
2019) . Untreated tooth decay is notably prevalent among the same population with less than
high school education.
African Americans and Oral Health
Despite being one of the leading indicators in the Healthy People 2020 initiative, oral
health is continually becoming a challenge in the healthcare sector. The number of people,
especially the African American community visiting dentists, have significantly reduced.
Research indicates that African American men with less than a high school education are the
most disadvantaged population with respect to oral health access and care by race, age, and
gender (Como et al., 2019) . As compared to adults from other ethnic groupings and African
American women, African American adult males have the highest rates of pharyngeal and oral
cavity cancers (Hoffman et al., 2017) . Therefore, African American males are not only
susceptible to oral health diseases, but also the psychological and physical aspects of human life
that are affected by oral health.
Insufficient or incorrect information and knowledge of oral health is another challenge
that uneducated African American population faces. Since they have little education (Como et
al., 2019) , African American adults have inaccurate oral health knowledge, which hinders their
access to healthcare (Slaughter & Evans, n.d.) . Therefore, most interventions on oral health,
especially for this population, have been aimed at modifying dental care attitudes, knowledge,
and habits that are associated with oral health (Como et al., 2019) . Several research studies have
identified an association between improved knowledge and better educational attainment with
improved oral health. Similarly, the oral health of African Americans improves with
improvement in education levels.

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Mortality/Morbidity and Risk among African American Men
Most of the population with oral health concerns report limited access to dental care.
Despite being twice as likely to experience tooth decay as their white counterparts, African
American men are less likely to visit a dentist (Muthra et al., 2019) . Additionally, African
American men have a 5-year lower oral cancer survival rates as compared to the former. In a
research study among 154 Black males, about 68 percent of the population did not have dental
insurance, which is one of the leading causes of reduced access to dental care (Akintobi et al.,
2018) . A National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) report also found that people with
dental coverage are more likely to take their beneficiaries and themselves for dental treatment
and have better oral health (Akintobi et al., 2018) .
Overall, 74 million Americans do not have dental insurance covers, most of which are
African Americans (Akintobi et al., 2018) . Even African Americans with dental coverage delay
their dental care with the belief that it will cost them more in the long run. Most of this
challenge is associated with poor education since about two-thirds of dental coverage is
provided through employers offering formal employment. People with less than a high school
education in the United States are less likely to get formal employment that can offer dental
coverage. The recent developments in the insurance sector brought about by Medicaid do not
cover all forms of dental care; therefore, if African American men continue to suffer oral health
challenges that are associated with treatment costs.
Healthy People 2020 Initiative
The goal of the HP 2020 initiative on oral health is to prevent and control oral and
craniofacial diseases, conditions, and injuries as well as improve access to preventive and dental
care (CDC, 2020). The initiative focuses on craniofacial and oral conditions and diseases such

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as cleft lip, dental caries, oral and facial pain, periodontal diseases, xerostomia, and oral and
pharyngeal cancers. With the focus on preventive and treatment programs for Americans, the
initiative recognizes challenges such as income levels, education levels, ethnicity, and racial
disparities within the nation. Therefore, the objective of the HP 2020 on the improvement of
oral health among African American adults with less than a high school education includes
increasing oral health awareness, acceptance and adoption of preventive interventions, and
reducing disparities in access to care and treatment (Akintobi et al., 2018) .
Population-Level Intervention
According to HP 2020, 7 out of 10 Americans have access to community water
fluoridation, which is a national intervention to treat oral health concerns among populations
that use public water systems (Akintobi et al., 2018) . However, African American adults with
challenges require community-based participatory approaches that assess the needs of the
population and offer close monitoring. Support groups offer a proper assessment opportunity
for neighborhood residents since oral health patients are associated with social problems of poor
wellbeing. The participatory interventions would help in ensuring that most of them get
accurate information guided by specialists in dental insurance, health professionals, and
individuals that successfully overcame similar challenges of oral health.
Conclusion
Oral health is one of the leading challenges that the Healthy People 2020 initiative seeks
to address. The issue is increasingly becoming a public concern due to its prevalence, the
expense of treatments, and the impact on the individual and the society. Despite the milestone
developments in fighting poor oral health, African Americans male adults are still the most
vulnerable population in accessing oral health. While this could be associated with low levels of

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education, which is associated with inaccurate information and poor knowledge about oral
health, lower dental insurance rates, high unemployment rates, and low self-esteem, as well as
poor health choices are some of the challenges facing the population. Nevertheless, the HP
2020 initiative has put in place community-based participatory initiatives such as support
groups that are aimed at increasing access to dental care and increasing knowledge among the
vulnerable population.

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References

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Miller, A. (2018). Assessing the Oral Health Needs of African American Men in Low-
Income, Urban Communities. American Journal of Men’s Health, 12(2), 326–337.
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CDC. (2020, May 1). Disparities in oral health. Centers for Disease Control and
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Como, D. H., Duker, L. I. S., Polido, J. C., & Cermak, S. A. (2019). The persistence of oral
health disparities for African American children: A scoping review. In International
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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050710
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(2017). Oral health intervention for low-income African American Men in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Muthra, S., Hamilton, R., Leopold, K., Dodson, E., Mooney, D., Wallington, S. F., Dash, C., &
Adams-Campbell, L. L. (2019). A qualitative study of oral health knowledge among
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Older African Americans.
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