The proposed 2015 budget for the Indian Health Service (IHS) won't address increasing oral disease, according to the ADA.
The $175 million fiscal 2015 budget proposed by the Obama administration will be adequate to maintain the IHS Division of Oral Health's current programs and staff new facilities. However, ADA President Charles H. Norman, DDS, told members of a House of Representatives panel on April 8 that it won't address the increasing rates of oral disease in tribal areas.
The budget allows only $83 in dental care for each of the 2.1 million people served by the IHS and does not even cover one dental visit per year, he noted while testifying before the House Interior Subcommittee on Appropriations. Dental care expenditures in the U.S., as a whole, amounted to $353 per capita, he added.
Dr. Norman told lawmakers that tooth decay in had reached epidemic proportions. According to data from the Navajo Nation, tooth decay is present in 48% of 1-year-olds and up to 94% of 4-year-olds. The decay rate of preschool Navajo children is the highest in the nation. The decay rate in 4-year-olds nationally is approximately 35%.
While the ADA accepts that Congress is not likely to fund IHS's Division of Oral Health to the level the agency truly needs to fulfill its mission, Dr. Norman said, the ADA does urge lawmakers to appropriate an additional $4 million for projects that can have real and immediate impact, like improving dental record keeping and implementing preventive measures.
Further, he stressed the importance of reducing the amount of paperwork dentists must submit in order to volunteer in Indian Country.
