Action for Dental Health: Dentists Making a Difference

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of creating access to oral health care and to raise awareness for initiatives that deliver important dental services to underserved communities.

This year, more than 75 million Americans won't visit a dentist, even though nearly half of the people over 30 suffer from some form of gum disease and an estimated 25 percent of children under the age of 5 already have cavities.

It is time to take action.

That is why the American Dental Association launched Action for Dental Health: Dentists Making a Difference. This initiative is a nationwide, community-based movement that is focused on delivering care to people who are already suffering from dental disease, and on bringing dental health education and disease prevention into underserved communities.

This Sunday, the American Dental Association will transform the Walter E. Washington Convention Center into a Mission of Mercy--a 100-chair dental clinic--in order to treat 1,000 adults and children who don't receive regular dental care.

We can grow support for initiatives like these through H.R. 539, the Action for Dental Health Act, which will help dentists and others improve the health of Americans who need it most but without requiring any additional tax dollars. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 539.

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