The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

If I asked you to name a chronic disease, you would probably think of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer or dementia. The odds are, one of the most common chronic diseases would never cross your mind. 

Worldwide, this condition affects more than 3 billion people and causes significant physical and emotional suffering. Annually, it costs the American economy upwards of $45 billion in productivity. Our children miss nearly 35 million hours of school. Our emergency rooms field nearly 2 million visits. 

So what is it?

Dental disease.

Those of us whose experiences with denta...