Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges included 15,638 plans for 2022, a 15% increase from offerings for the 2021 plan year, according to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation analysis. Senior policy adviser and report author Kathy Hempstead said insurer participation has grown most markedly in states that did not expand Medicaid eligibility, as insurers focus on areas with high numbers of uninsured Americans.

Gill Children's of Fort Worth, Texas, and Save a Smile, part of the Center for Children's Health at Cook Children's Hospital, are two nonprofits helping children without insurance access oral health care services. The Save A Smile program, created in 2003 by dentists and physicians, is offered at 21 Fort Worth-area schools and has helped improve pediatric oral health.

Research published in BMJ Open indicates that adults with periodontal disease such as periodontitis or gingivitis may have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those who do not have periodontal disease. Researchers examined data from 64,379 adults whose family practice physicians diagnosed periodontal disease during a period of nearly 25 years.

A study in BMC Oral Health found that children with celiac disease had more manifestations of recurrent aphthous stomatitis and dental enamel defects, when compared with a healthy control group. Data did not show significant differences in rates of dental caries or malocclusion.

Find out more about average premiums by dental benefit product, group size and state with the NADP 2021 Premium Report, now available in the NADP Knowledge Center.

Join NADP and SkyGen for the free webinar, "Driving Human-Centered Digital Innovation in the Dental Industry," presented Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. Central Time. In this webinar John Schaak, SKYGEN chief Innovation and growth officer and Marcel Tetzlaff, SKYGEN vice president of provider experience and benefits management, will discuss ways dental payers can build and execute on a game changing digital strategy. Register in the Knowledge Center.