Exploring the Importance of Dental and Vision Health
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One in five adults between the ages of 20 and 64 has at least one untreated cavity.1
Dental checkups can detect oral cancer early.2
Children with dental cavities experienced an average of 5 more school absences per year.3
Tooth disorders account for an annual average of 1,944,000 emergency department visits.4
183 million productivity hours are lost yearly due to oral pain or unplanned dental visits.5
Gum disease has been linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s Disease.6
Having a dental check-up at least yearly allows for early detection of gum disease, as well as treatment.7
It is estimated that oral diseases affect nearly 3.7 billion people.8
A comprehensive eye exam can detect health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease and even brain tumors.9
Over half of all childhood blindness in the U.S. is due to treatable causes.10
11 million Americans over age 12 need vision correction.11
80% of global visual impairment is considered preventable or treatable using existing interventions such as cataract surgery and corrective lenses.12
- 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oral Health Surveillance Report: Dental Caries, Tooth Retention, and Edentulism (2017-2020) https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/php/2024-oral-health-surveillance-report/index.html
- 2 National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Oral Cancer (2020) https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/oral-cancer#treatment
- 3 Goulart MA, Sherriff A, Conway DI, McMahon AD. Poor child oral health and school absences: a population-wide data linkage study. J Epidemiol Community Health. Published online July 7, 2025. doi:10.1136/jech-2025-223754
- 4 Schappert SM, Santo L. Emergency department visits for tooth disorders: United States, 2020–2022. NCHS Data Brief. 2025 Jun;(531):1–11. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174597
- 5 CareQuest Institute of Oral Health, The Hour of Need: Productivity Time Lost Due to Urgent Oral Health Needs (2023) https://www.carequest.org/resource-library/hour-need-productivity-time-lost-due-urgent-oral-health-needs
- 6 American Academy of Periodontology, Gum Disease and Other Diseases https://www.perio.org/for-patients/gum-disease-information/gum-disease-and-other-diseases/.
- 7 American Academy of Periodontology., Gum Disease Information (2023) https://https://www.perio.org/for-patients/gum-disease-information/
- 8 World Health Organization, Oral Health (2025) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/oral-health
- 9 American Academy of Ophthalmology, 20 Surprising Health Problems an Eye Exam Can Catch (2024) https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/surprising-health-conditions-eye-exam-detects
- 10 American Academy of Ophthalmology, New Research Shows Half of Childhood Blindness in the US is Preventable (2022) https://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/research-half-of-childhood-blindness-preventable
- 11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Why Eye Exams Are Important (2024) https://www.cdc.gov/vision-health/about-eye-disorders/why-eye-exams-are-important.html
- 12 Vision Center, Blindness Statistics (2025) https://www.visioncenter.org/resources/blindness-facts/