Friday, January 21, 2011

The Cost of Treating a Preventable Disease


This is pretty interesting stuff. Dental expenditures in 2007 (latest available) equaled the cost of treating cardiovascular disease. It is more than twice as much as was spent for diabetes or normal maternity. And it is mostly caused by a little bacteria that can be prevented!
Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 2007, AHRQ, US Dept of Health and Human Services