Due to the current economic recession, more and more families are losing dental insurance or facing difficult choices about which costs are essential or expandable. Therefore, dentists are reporting a sharp downturn in dental care, as people decide to delay or cancel many of their regular visits at the doctor.

In a Chicago Dental Society poll of more than 300 dentists last fall, more than 60 percent said their patients are putting off cosmetic procedures because of the struggling economy, and more than half said their patients were putting off dental work and more than 40 percent said that preventive visits were most of the time cancelled.

As a natural effect, dental offices had to join the legion of workplaces forced to lay off employees. Of course, as waiting rooms at private dentist offices are emptier than usual, the small number of clinics that treat adults and children on public insurance, or without any insurance at all, find themselves overwhelmed by demand.

Unfortunately, this problem can’t be solved, as there isn’t enough money to try and bring other doctors to those clinics. According to the Bridge to Healthy Smiles campaign, a coalition of dentists and advocates seeking improved access to dental care, there is one public dental clinic for every 8,400 children on public aid in Illinois.

In related news, a Board of Regents committee on Thursday approved creating two dental therapy degree programs, as legislators also introduced bills that would license the people who graduate from them. A step between a hygienist and a dentist, a dental therapist would be allowed to pull teeth, place sealants and do some other procedures now only performed by dentists.