Toothpastes Are Too Expensive for Poor (Discount Plans May Help)

By Susan Braden

Let’s face it – our basic cost of living is rising. Milk’s cost per gallon can be more expensive than gasoline! In this floundering economy, some necessities of life may become inaccessible due to high cost. Even the basic necessity of fluoridated toothpaste has become too expensive for those do not have a lot of money.

The poorer population of the world does not even have access to toothpaste – much less to a discount dental plan to help lessen other dentistry costs. A group of respected individuals in the oral health community, including Ann Goldman of the School of Public Health and Health Services of George Washington University, and Habib Benzian of the FDI World Dental Federation, have formulated a comparison of the relative affordability of fluoridated toothpastes in 48 different countries.

The results they compiled were fairly astounding. Their findings note that the tooth decay in many countries is very high for two key reasons:

#1. Only 12.5% of the entire world’s population is able to consistently use fluoridated toothpastes.

This means that 87.5% of the whole world’s population is currently not using toothpaste! Brushing with toothpaste is the most effective way to prevent tooth decay on a regular basis, but too many people are unable to use this product due to its high cost compared to other living necessities. Discount dental plans could also be a help in poor areas of the world, allowing lower overall costs for individual dentistry work.

#2. Lack of affordable or discount dental care means that tooth decay is allowed to linger in low-income individuals, instead of being addressed in a timely manner.

As the plaque leading to tooth decay first sets in, much of it can be eliminated fairly quickly by brushing your teeth. However, if you do not even have the ability to purchase toothpaste, then it is difficult to fight tooth decay and to save your teeth. If more people had access to discount dental plans around the world, these plans could drive the cost of dentistry down, potentially making this and other oral hygiene necessities more accessible to the average individual.

There have been reports compiled by governments and oral health organizations worldwide regarding the cost of fluoridated toothpaste. These reports have shown that the price of toothpaste tends to increase proportionately to the amount of people per country. The findings indicate that the poorest countries, containing the largest populations, tend to have the least access to affordable toothpaste, and many of them likely do not have discount dental plans available in their countries to help with dentist costs.

Despite this discouraging news, the price of toothpaste can be brought down in several ways. If your community experiences a shortage of cheap toothpaste, you may want to encourage these three steps.

• Make fluoride toothpastes exempt from taxation:

  This would drop the price of toothpaste, making it more affordable for low-income individuals.

• Take measures to drop the price of toothpaste in poorer countries:

  If this occurs, more than just 12.5% of the entire world’s population could have access to cheap toothpaste to prevent tooth decay.

• Offer encouragement to toothpaste manufacturers to increase production:

  The more toothpaste that is made available, the less it will cost per individual, making it more affordable.

A final factor that could contribute to lower toothpaste costs could be the introduction of affordable discount dental plans in more areas of the world. Cheaper dentistry care could drive down the cost of fluoridated toothpaste and make it easier for the world’s population to care for its teeth.

For more information about discount dental plans, click here.