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Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America Hardcover – March 14, 2017

by Mary Otto (Author)

27 customer reviews

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An NPR Best Book of 2017

"[Teeth is] . . . more than an exploration of a two-tiered system―it is a call for sweeping, radical change."
—New York Times Book Review

“Show me your teeth,” the great naturalist Georges Cuvier is credited with saying, “and I will tell you who you are.” In this shattering new work, veteran health journalist Mary Otto looks inside America’s mouth, revealing unsettling truths about our unequal society.

Teeth takes readers on a disturbing journey into America’s silent epidemic of oral disease, exposing the hidden connections between tooth decay and stunted job prospects, low educational achievement, social mobility, and the troubling state of our public health. Otto’s subjects include the pioneering dentist who made Shirley Temple and Judy Garland’s teeth sparkle on the silver screen and helped create the all-American image of “pearly whites”; Deamonte Driver, the young Maryland boy whose tragic death from an abscessed tooth sparked congressional hearings; and a marketing guru who offers advice to dentists on how to push new and expensive treatments and how to keep Medicaid patients at bay.

In one of its most disturbing findings, Teeth reveals that toothaches are not an occasional inconvenience, but rather a chronic reality for millions of people, including disproportionate numbers of the elderly and people of color. Many people, Otto reveals, resort to prayer to counteract the uniquely devastating effects of dental pain.

Otto also goes back in time to understand the roots of our predicament in the history of dentistry, showing how it became separated from mainstream medicine, despite a century of growing evidence that oral health and general bodily health are closely related.

Muckraking and paradigm-shifting, Teeth exposes for the first time the extent and meaning of our oral health crisis. It joins the small shelf of books that change the way we view society and ourselves—and will spark an urgent conversation about why our teeth matter.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Teeth:

An NPR Best Book of 2017

"Mary Otto, a former Washington Post reporter, doesn't just dwell on the numbers―she makes what could have been a turgid health policy tome spark with outrage over the stories of people who have suffered."
—NPR

Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Prize

"[Teeth is] . . . more than an exploration of a two-tiered system―it is a call for sweeping, radical change."
—New York Times Book Review

[Otto infuses] what could be a mundane topic with quirky history, heart-wrenching real-life stories, and prose that is . . . poetic . . . this harrowing book pulls at the heartstrings. It’s a must-read for anyone who cares about public health policy."
—Newsday

"With many adults still uninsured, children’s dental care far from universal, and the future of government-supported health care unclear, Otto’s sobering report should not go unheeded."
—Publishers Weekly

"Otto’s well-reported and important book will arouse concern over the fact that dental health, which is so essential to our well-being, gets such short shrift, and, hopefully, help instigate reform."
—Booklist

"An astute examination of the complex, insular business of oral health care."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Mary Otto hits us right in the face—our teeth—with this important book. The lack of dental care for millions of Americans is a national shame. Teeth breaks new ground in the canon of books about poverty. It should be read by anyone concerned about the class divide in the U.S."
—Dale Maharidge, author of And Their Children After Them, winner of the 1990 nonfiction Pulitzer Prize

"I can’t remember the last time I read a book that so brilliantly yokes physiological, political and cultural systems. Rife with discovery, and a spur to social action, Mary Otto’s book is a beautifully readable and essential testament for these times."
—Mary Cappello, author of Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration, and the Curious Doctor Who Extracted Them

"Mary Otto brings history, policy and painful personal realities together in this compelling and engaging book about our nation’s highly preventable epidemic of oral disease. Teeth should be read by every policy maker and health professional who believes we can and must act to reduce the current barriers to dental care."
—Louis W. Sullivan, MD, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1989–1993, and chairman of the Sullivan Alliance to Transform the Health Professions

"Who eats too much sugar, leading to dental trauma? Primarily the poor. Who cannot sleep because of continuing dental pain and no available dental care? Primarily the poor. Even with Medicare and Medicaid, dental care has remained a stepchild—and these programs are in jeopardy now. ‘The teeth are no match for . . . a life of poverty,’ Otto says. More teeth failure and its consequences are on their way."
—Peter Edelman

"Here’s a book that will enlighten you, upset you, and give you hope. I highly recommend it."
—Bob Herbert, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and former op-ed columnist for the New York Times

"Mesmerizing and important. Mary Otto’s unflinching work on the miserable state of oral health in America gnaws at you like a toothache."
—Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8)

About the Author

Mary Otto is the oral health topic leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists. She began writing about oral health at the Washington Post, where she worked for eight years covering social issues including health care and poverty. She lives in Washington, DC.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: The New Press; 1 edition (March 14, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620971445
ISBN-13: 978-1620971444
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 27 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > Medical Books > Dentistry > Preventive
- #32 in Books > Medical Books > Administration & Medicine Economics > Health Policy
- #54 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Social Services & Welfare

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Happy camper

A compelling read

May 10, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Mary Otto has been involved in the tragic death of Deamonte Driver due to dental infection for several years. She deserves enormous credit for bringing this story to the public. In her new book, "Teeth," Ms. Otto takes her formidable investigative skills and applies them across an accurate, and interesting account of the founding of the dental profession, and on why it was never integrated into medicine. Most importantly, she unearths the many sad tales on the inadequate resources allocated for dental services in the USA. At a time when it has become clear that dental disease, especially periodontal disease, is a contributory cause to many inflammatory based systemic diseases like diabetes, stroke, heart disease and renal disease, it is important to read this book. Indeed, it has been estimated that providing dental care within Medicare can generate a net savings of $12 billion per year from reduced hospitalizations due to the impact of reducing a key source of inflammation in the body.

20 people found this helpful

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Jennifer H

An interesting and engaging - describing how oral health influences every aspect of our lives

July 14, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a terrific read- an interesting and engaging narrative describing how oral health influences not just our health, but its' bidirectional relationship with the social and economic aspects of our lives. Otto provides insights into the struggle within the dental profession itself as dentists can't decide if their a business or a health care provider. They clearly want to be both but haven't figured out how.

4 people found this helpful

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Carol Jahn

Excellent. Must read for all dental professions, public policy makers

September 2, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Mary Otto not only documents the state of dental care in the US today, she gives you a front seat into the impact this has on the personal lives of those who are unable to get access to care. Mary does a great job at shining a light on how divided dental care is from medicine. Many will be surprised to learn that there is no dental benefit in Medicare. I'm a dental professional and parts of this book were tough to read. We need to do better.

4 people found this helpful

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February 28, 2018

Format: Audible AudiobookVerified Purchase

There are always two sides to a story and this book gives a look into how generational poverty effects the oral health of its communities. It also sheds light on how professional “self-interest” and government red tape have sabotaged, neglected, judged & forgotten about these communities in the past.

2 people found this helpful

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May 3, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I heard Mary Otto speak last week, an inspirational speaker and even better writer about the struggle to provide dental care to all people in America. She has written a well-documented summary of the history of dental care in this country, detailing both historic and current challenges to bring dental care to those who can't afford it. This book is a moving call to action for all who care about civil rights and the health of our nation. I don't work in the dental field and yet found this book definitely worth reading. Highly recommended.

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George McNulty

Important read about part of the story

June 12, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is an important book on an important topic easily read by the lay person and professional alike. It is extensively researched and provides little known history as well as both fascinating and disturbing stories. There is a clear political agenda. That being dental care is part of medical care and thus should be provided to all as an entitlement by our government. However you may feel about that agenda, it is a good first step in starting an urgently needed dialogue critical to the health of Americans.
I can suggest three additional chapters to cover issues that were either avoided or neglected:
1.) "Access to care" is a euphemism which really means, "who covers the cost". So who does? Can anyone cover the cost of neglect or ignorance?
2.) "Organized dentistry" is consistently and repeatedly characterized as being self-serving if not profiteering. (Just wait until corporations and venture capitalists take over the practice of dentistry!) Yet the two things dentists CANNOT ORGANIZE around are fees and 3rd party ("insurance") participation. The FTC uses impressive intimidation tactics to squash all such discussion within the profession. The profession which must lead to solve the problem.
3.) There is no realistic discussion about what "dental insurance" really is. Is it really insurance? Does the industry behave monopolistically by fixing fees? Is it more like a cartel? It may have been illuminating to have legal analysis of participation contracts, intimidation tactics and government collusion. All of this adds huge unnecessary cost to the delivery of care.
I urge you to read this book, brush and floss diligently and require your children to do the same! 95% of dental diseases and disorders are preventable with simple, inexpensive, responsible behavior. Take care of yourself. Be a good patient. Dental disease could go away.

18 people found this helpful

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April 14, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Fantastic read. Anyone interested in dentistry and/or racial discrepancies in healthcare should read this book.

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May 3, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a must read for anyone working in oral health

3 people found this helpful

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Most recent customer reviews

Tanya M. Smith

A Gripping Reality Check

An incredibly important book for health care providers and anyone who cares about social equality. I have been thinking about it for a long time, and will be encouraging my...Read more

Published 11 days ago

Michelle Schmidt

Fantastic book with very enlightening information

Fantastic book with very enlightening information. I met the author, Mary Otto, and she is even more intriguing to listen too. Awesome read and will leave you with a new outlook!

Published 1 month ago

afelinefan

GREAT BOOK!

GREAT book...sad, though.

Published 4 months ago

Kate Sanger

You'll never think of teeth the same way again.

I tend to gravitate towards weird non-fiction topics, so I picked this up because, well, why not? It's amazing.Read more

Published 6 months ago

Peter Degallier

Inspirational

As a future dental professional, I found this book so moving and inspiring. I hope that these pages will continue to help me aspire to use my training and career to help those in...Read more

Published 6 months ago

LTH

Well researched.

Well researched, eye opening account of a giant gap in total health care program in USA. Frightening but necessary read.

Published 8 months ago

tamana

A must read!

Incredible book! Extremely well written!

Published 10 months ago

RJT DDS

Review from Dentist

As a dentist at times I felt that many of the solutions to the issues were not sustainable or even feasible but a good overall picture of the issues we face as a dental community...Read more

Published 10 months ago

ybrijette

Five Stars

A must read for pre-dental students

Published 10 months ago

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