Listen now (20 mins) | Listen Now The Medicare program, now in its 51st year, still does not cover oral/dental health care such as exams, X-rays, cleanings, fillings, tooth extractions and dentures. (Medicare will cover an oral health procedure if it is incent to a serious accident or disease, for example, for surgery to treat fractures of the jaw or face or if you have oral cancer and need dental services necessary for radiation treatments.) This is unfortunate when you consider for example: poor oral/dental health worsens overall health; less than five percent of older Americans have dental insurance of any kind; one-third of adults over 65 have untreated dental caries and over 40 percent have periodontal disease; the Affordable Care Act did not name adult oral/dental benefits as an "essential health benefit"; an overwhelming majority of adults believe dental coverage should be part of overall health coverage; for all of CMS's "innovation" demonstrations (now numbering well over 50) there are none that address improving oral/dental health for seniors; and, oral/dental health disparities are, according to the CDC, "profound."