Dental implantation is a relatively safe and long-lasting replacement of a missing tooth. Replacement of a tooth is important because the bone starts to atrophy within a year after missing the tooth. It leads to a sinus lift or bone graft, which involves a complicated surgery. Patients lose their teeth due to mistreatment or trauma, but sometimes they are missing from birth. According to the insurance policy of Illinois, dental implants are not covered by insurance (BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, 2021). However, it is essential that all patients could have access to tooth replacement covered by insurance.
Despite the importance of tooth replacement, dental implantation has several complications. They include infection, nerve damage, prolonged bleeding, and jaw fracture (Turkyilmaz, 2019). However, non-replacement can lead to a more serious surgery which has even more grave outcomes. In addition, an individual without teeth has an increased risk of accidentally damaging the gums with food, which will also lead to further treatment. If a tooth is not replaced, a sinus lift operation can be needed, which may cause nasal ecchymosis, emphysema, bleeding, incisional breakdown, and other complications (Candotto et al., 2020). In addition, when a tooth is missing, teeth start to shift in the mouth, which leads to pathologies. Thus, it can be easier to prevent serious complications which have to be covered by insurance by dental implantation.
Since the issue is essential for the healthcare system of Illinois, it seems reasonable to suggest several strategies to attract public and governmental attention to it. First, it is necessary to assess the number of people who will benefit from dental implantation. To do that, volunteers may conduct a public poll that will prove the necessity of this category in insurance to the government. Second, dentists may sign a petition advocating for dental implementation and send it to the government. Third, volunteers and doctors may list the number of positive health outcomes that will follow the initiative’s adoption. Similarly, they may list consequences that will deteriorate the health conditions of Illinois citizens if the law is not approved. Finally, volunteers may prove the necessity of this category in medical insurance by counting the amount of money that the Illinois government will get from the US government on the project’s realization. However, it is necessary to remember that the measures should not be implemented separately, as their combination is more likely to give the needed result than single steps.
References
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois. 2021 Illinois Policy Documents. Web.
Candotto, V., Gallusi, G., Piva, A., Baldoni, M., & Di Girolamo, M. (2020). Complications in sinus lift. Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents, 34(1). Web.
Turkyilmaz I. (2018). A proposal for a new classification for dental implant complications. The journal of the contemporary dental practice, 19(8), 1025–1033.