The astronomical costs of dental care takes it right off the radar of most Americans. Thankfully, I believe John Edwards has a dental and mental health component in his healthcare reform proposal. All the other Democratic candidates must also include dental and mental health benefits in their healthcare proposals.

But before going any further, I'd like to acquaint you with the dental benefits available to federal employees and our elected officials

And, I'll state again, as always, federal employees deserve these benefits. I am only questioning why elected officials are deemed worthy of dental care while so many Americans, myself included, go without.

But going back to the rest of us--the American people, what do we do about our oral health? And why has the for-profit insurance industry stripped our heads from our bodies. The health consequence of bad teeth are not insignificant. Is this bad enough?

About five years ago, I had what is commonly known as a tooth abscess. It was the worst pain I have ever encountered. It cost me many thousands of dollars to get it fixed. I had to have a root canal and something called a crown installed. I think, at the end of the day, I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000-4000.00 to be relieved of this ghastly pain and restored to health. Why didn't my very expensive private, for-profit insurance cover this horrific healthcare nightmare? Because I didn't have dental insurance at the time, and I still don't.

Here's the story of another American who was unable to afford dental care in San Diego. So he went to Mexico. Heading overseas and South of the border has become the healthcare reality for millions of Americans.

Because the American healthcare system has collapsed, U.S. citizens are going to Canada and Mexico for affordable healthcare and affordable medication. The idea of seeking healthcare solutions in Third World countries due to our own broken safety net now includes nursing homes for America's elderly in India.

A word to the wise. Getting your teeth repaired in Tijuana, is going to become a little more difficult starting January 1st, according to the urgent warning posted on the web site of the Baja Oral Center. Starting January 1st, the U.S. government will require citizens to have a passport to cross the border. Try obtaining one of those passports the stupid State Department is having a hard time issuing in a timely fashion.

Since the State Department is incapable of processing passport applications, crossing the border to attend to a dental emergency could become much more difficult going forward, so here are some home dental care remedies.

And finally, in an editorial entitled, Healing Our Sicko Health Care System, a great American institution, The New England Journal of Medicine hurls darts and arrows into our broken system.