Much of the recent discussion of health care reform has ignored oral health. That's unfortunate because good oral health means much more than healthy teeth and a nice smile. It is essential to overall health and well-being.

Poor oral health, a lack of dental care and untreated oral diseases can adversely affect an individual's ability to speak, smile, kiss, chew, maintain proper nutrition, attend school or go to work. Statistics show that dental-related absences total 51 million hours annually for students across the country and more than 164 million work hours for adults annually.

In addition, oral health is linked to overall health conditions. More than 90 percent of all systemic diseases, including diabetes, leukemia, cancer, heart disease and kidney disease, have oral characteristics that can be detected during an oral exam, according to the Academy of General Dentistry's "Know Your Teeth". That means a dentist may be the first to spot warning signs of potential systemic disease during a regular checkup. What's more, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center's report, Periodontal disease - Risk Factors, emerging science points to important associations between periodontal (gum) disease and medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, HIV and the risk of premature birth.