Blog 2: Ability or Social Status

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 As we have traveled through Morocco, I have noticed that people's dental health differs from that of citizens in the United States. This is an entirely neutral observation with no ill will towards individuals suffering from dental issues or complications, but rather a window into the differences in the availability and accessibility of quality, affordable dental care across Morocco. Morocco has a ratio of 1 dentist per 7,000 citizens, compared to the U.S.’s 1-1,680 ratio (Bahadi, 2016; NewMouth, 2024). To further complicate matters, most dentists in Morocco are clustered in urban centers, leaving rural residents without reliable access to dental care. Such a lack of dental care availability has resulted in 60-90% of children with tooth decay, which in turn leads to high decay rates among adults aged 35-44 (WHO EMRO, 2020; Chala et al., 2024). This is not to say that dental care is unattainable for all Moroccans, rather, it depends drastically on one’s proximity to a major city as to whether or not they receive sufficient dental care to prevent disease and decay. 

These numbers are drastically higher than they are in the U.S., where only 20% of children experience tooth decay, alongside another 20% of adults under 64 years of age. Dental health in America also differs in that the factors leading to tooth decay and dental diseases are largely from diet or an inability of insurance to cover dental treatments (CDC, 2024). Morocco’s issue stems from a lack of specialists and resources, which leaves its citizens, especially those in rural areas, very little recourse to sufficiently address any issues they face with their dental health (Chala et al., 2024). 

I find this lack of available dental health resources particularly troubling, as routine dentist visits and treatments such as braces or Invisalign were the norm. Seeing a country in which many people are simply unable to have healthy teeth and a life free of issues such as gum disease or missing teeth is disheartening. This is not to say that the U.S. is perfect in its dental hygiene services, as lapses in insurance lead many Americans to suffer from the same diseases and complications as their Moroccan counterparts. Ultimately, I believe that a targeted initiative to bring in foreign dental professionals to provide routine care across the state while simultaneously establishing a nationwide initiative to train and deploy more dentists would provide a sufficient long-term solution to Morocco’s dental health and hygiene issues. It is my wish that such initiatives eventually come to fruition, and that all Moroccans, whether in urban or rural areas, receive the quality healthcare and assistance they deserve to live  more fulfilling and unburdened lives. 



Bahadi, A. (2016). National Commission of Dentists: One dentist per 7,000 Moroccans. Morocco World News. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/03/182531/national-commission-of-dentists-one-dentist-per-7000-moroccans

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). 2024 oral health surveillance report: Selected findings. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/php/2024-oral-health-surveillance-report/selected-findings.html

Chala, S., Abouqal, R., & Abdallaoui, F. (2024). Reasons behind permanent tooth extraction at a dental university hospital in Morocco: A survey among patients of the International Faculty of Dental Medicine of Rabat. PMC/National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10819844/

NewMouth. (2024). Statistics on global dental care accessibility. https://www.newmouth.com/oral-health/global-dental-care-accessibility-statistics

World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. (2020). Prevalence of dental caries among children aged 5–15 years from 9 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A meta-analysis. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 26(6). https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-26-2020/volume-26-issue-6/prevalence-of-dental-caries-among-children-aged-515-years-from-9-countries-in-the-eastern-mediterranean-region-a-meta-analysis.html

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