Letters: Sign up for dental health insurance coverage – Charleston Post Courier
October marks the start of open enrollment, a period when many individuals and families review health benefit options and make key decisions for the upcoming year.
It’s also a great time to remember that good oral health is essential to good overall health and consider how dental coverage may fit into your overall benefits mix.
According to the 2022 State of America’s Oral Health and Wellness Report, a nationwide analysis of consumer opinions and behaviors related to oral health, 62% of adults nationwide currently have dental coverage, and 85% of parents report their child is covered.
Among those with coverage, nearly all adults recognize that dental benefits save them money and are well worth the cost. This is in large part because dental benefits focus on prevention.
Preventive checkups and cleanings are usually covered twice annually at 100%. These go a long way toward maintaining a healthy mouth. These visits can reveal any dental issues so they can be treated promptly.
This is important as a distinct connection exists between the health of the mouth and the body. Untreated dental disease can influence health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis.
On the flip side, there are 120 illnesses that cause changes in the mouth, enabling dentists to identify signs and symptoms of other potential health concerns.
It pays in multiple ways to have and use dental coverage: for peace of mind, the overall health benefits, cost savings and improved quality of life for you and your loved ones.
RON INGE
Doctor of Dental Surgery
Columbia
People, not things
On Sept. 26, Allan S. Hill, board chairman of the Greenville County Public Libraries, stated: “the library is not here to promote LGBTQ things, and it’s not here to be against LGBTQ things. The best everybody in this room can hope for from this board is for it to be neutral.”
The LGBTQ+ community is a group of people — a group of human beings.
We are not merely “things,” as Mr. Hill suggests. We are of all ages, and our presence in society is no more age-inappropriate than the existence of people with different hair or eye colors.
By a wide margin, the majority of queer adults often say they wish they had the words to express themselves when they were younger.
We were different, we just didn’t know why. Representation is not indoctrination.
If someone cannot think about a gay couple or transgender people without thinking about sexual imagery, then they are dehumanizing us as sexual objects.
If their idea of “remaining neutral” is to keep us out of public view, then they are opposed to our existence.
Those who ban knowledge and objectify humans always have two things in common: history does not view them as heroes, and they thought they were doing the right thing.
Support your libraries and resist book bans by writing board members and legislators.
And vote in November.
AMBERLYN BOITER
Moore
Remove Russia now
The United Nations can and should hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine is in violation of the U.N. charter, its purpose and its values.
The organization’s charter makes clear that any nation in dispute with another must abstain from voting, therefore Russia may not vote on any matter related to its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s conduct is in breach of its obligations as a member and of its status as a permanent member of the Security Council.
Membership in both is based upon mutually agreed terms and conditions that Russia has chosen to reject.
It warrants removing Russia from the Security Council.
NEWT KLEMENTS
Charleston