Gun Violence Leads To Skipped Dental Visits, Lost Teeth
TUESDAY, April 15, 2025 -- Gun violence is bad for dental health, a new study says.
More specifically, people are less likely to go to the dentist in neighborhoods with higher levels of firearm violence, researchers report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
These neighborhoods subsequently experience higher rates of tooth loss.
And these effects increase: For every additional shooting, fewer people see a dentist and more eventually lose teeth, researchers discovered.
“Firearm violence doesn’t just shape public safety, it shapes health behaviors, including whether people feel safe enough to seek care,” Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University, said in a news release.
“This research underscores the importance of addressing violence as a public health crisis,” Semenza added.
For the new study, researchers examined 20,332 census tracts within the 100 largest cities in the U.S. between 2014 and 2022, using information from two major federal databases.
On average, 60% of people said they’d received dental care in the past year, but the figure ranged from 18% to 89% depending on the neighborhood, researchers reported.
Among seniors 65 and older, about 15% reported losing at least one tooth each year.
But people were increasingly less likely to go to the dentist — and more likely to lose a tooth — for each additional incident of gun violence in their neighborhood, researchers found.
Each shooting led to a 0.01% reduction in people going to the dentist, and a 0.06% increase in losing a tooth, results show.
Beyond skipping dental care, people exposed to gun violence are more likely to pick up habits that are bad for their teeth, researchers said. Stressed folks are more likely to eat unhealthy, smoke, get less sleep and skip exercise.
“Our study highlights how community violence extends beyond physical harm – it also creates barriers to essential health care like dental visits, which can have long-term consequences for oral health,” Semenza said.
Sources
- Rutgers University, news release, April 9, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
Mediterranean Diet Might Protect Dental Health
MONDAY, Sept. 22, 2025 — The Mediterranean diet might help you at the dentist, a new study says. People who follow a Mediterranean diet appear more likely to have better...
Mouth Microbes Might Contribute To Pancreatic Cancer
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2025 — A person’s risk of pancreatic cancer might be tied to the microbes living in their mouths, a new study says. People have a more than tripled...
Most Americans Fear The Dentist
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2025 — Afraid of the dentist? You’re far from alone, a new study says. Nearly 3 of 4 adults fear going to the dentist, researchers report in the...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.