Works by Mary Otto
Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America (2017) 82 copies, 2 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
Members
Reviews
Awards
Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 89
- Popularity
- #207,492
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 4
The main point of the book is that the state of a person's teeth has a tremendous influence on the health of the entire body, but because there is a deep artificial split between dentistry and other medical specialties, this influence isn't always understood or appreciated. Moreover, many people, most of them poor, face a lack of access to dental care. For example, the author relates one tragic story in which an impoverished young boy developed severe meningitis and died as the result of an abscessed molar. This happened not in 1813 or in a developing country, but in 2013 in the United States. This particular case became a cause célèbre and was even the subject of congressional hearings.
This book covers a lot of ground and shines a light on often neglected topics. Dentists probably won't like it because it portrays them as locked into a surgical approach to oral diseases and more motivated by money than by the common good. Nonetheless, I recommended for those with a strong interest in dental issues.… (more)