Group gauges city, rural teeth checks
Fewer residents of rural areas visited the dentist in 2019 than people who lived in urban areas, a new analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics found.
Among rural residents, 57.5% of respondents to the National Health Interview Survey said they'd seen a dentist in the previous 12 months. For residents in urban areas, 66.7% had their teeth checked.
Dental health is linked to a variety of health problems, including heart disease, public health experts say.
White women in both types of metropolitan areas were the likeliest to say they'd been to the dentist.
Fewer than half of Hispanic adults from rural places -- 45.7% -- said they'd had recent dental visits.
Dental visits also were closely correlated with income, the analysis showed. The percentage of people who'd been to the dentist was much smaller among those whose incomes were closest to the federal poverty level.
Arkansas is among the nation's most rural states, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website.
CDC still assessing listerosis outbreak
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to investigate an outbreak of listerosis thought to be linked to precooked chicken, a website updated Friday says.
The suspected products, supplied by Tyson Foods, were shipped to hospitals, nursing facilities, restaurants, schools and Department of Defense locations. They've been recalled.
Affected items include chicken strips, chicken cubes, cooked pizza with chicken and other food products, potentially sold under the brand names Tyson, Jet's Pizza, Casey's General Store, Marco's Pizza, Little Caesars and Circle K.
Three people were hospitalized, and one person died related to the outbreak, CDC statistics show.
Illness caused by the listeria bacteria can cause food-poisoning symptoms, such as diarrhea and fever, but some serious illnesses can occur weeks later, officials say.
People shouldn't eat chicken involved in the outbreak. Complete information about recalled food is online: fda.gov.