Like many seniors, William Stork of Cedar Hill, Mo., lacks dental insurance and doesn't want to pay $1,000 for a tooth extraction he needs. Health advocates see President Biden's Build Back Better agenda as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide dental coverage to people like Stork who are on Medicare. An unlikely adversary: the American Dental Association. Joe Martinez for Kaiser Health News hide caption
The Candylicious store in the Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates. John Stanmeyer for NPR hide caption
I'd rather be sticking needles in my eyes. But that wasn't on the survey. iStockphoto hide caption
A sweet way to avoid the dentist? Microbiologists are developing a probiotic mint that uses dead bacteria to fight off cavities. Morgan Walker/NPR hide caption
Appalachia has a distinct culture of sipping soda constantly throughout the day. "Here in West Virginia, you see people carrying around bottles of Mountain Dew all the time — even at a public health conference," says public health researcher Dana Singer. Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Scientists examined bacteria in the mouths of twins, and found that it's not as similar as they thought it would be. Sharon Dominick/iStockphoto hide caption