Tooth pain leads to more ER visits than you may think
/A study commissioned by Oregon Health Funders Collaborative, including Northwest Health Foundation, and conducted by OHSU and the University of Washington, found that an average of almost 80 people a day visit emergency departments in Oregon for dental problems.
Why? Too many of our neighbors lack adequate dental care, including insurance and prevention. This means missed days from work, reduced income and, for many of our children, fewer hours in the classroom.
As Oregon Community Foundation—one of our Collaborative partners—put it, "we are focused on raising awareness of dental disease and investing in infrastructure to improve the system for all."
Read the report here.
About the Oral Health Funders Collaborative
The Oral Health Funders Collaborative was formed in 2011 to address one of Oregon’s most pressing public health problems: dental disease. Ten of our region’s top charitable foundations have pooled resources and coordinated efforts to raise awareness of oral disease and invest in research and infrastructure needed to improve oral health for residents of Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Members include The Ford Family Foundation, The Dental Foundation of Oregon, Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, Kaiser Permanente, Northwest Health Foundation, The Oregon Community Foundation, Providence Health & Services, Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Oregon and Southwest Washington, Samaritan Health Services, and Cambia Health Foundation. PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement contributed resources to the study as well.