The CEO trying to solve the dental care crisis
Good morning.
Later today, Henry Schein Chairman and CEO Stan Bergman will host the launch of the Private Sector Humanitarian Alliance, founded and funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The goal is to make PSHA the leading private-sector group focused on disaster and humanitarian response. I mention this because Henry Schein, one of the world’s largest dental supply companies, serves as lead of the health care sector. It’s a recognition that oral health, an afterthought in most corporate benefit programs, is critical to overall health.
About half the world’s population suffers from oral diseases, which have been linked to dementia, cancer, pulmonary disease, diabetes and cardiac health, among other things. “If you go to the root cause of these diseases, a big chunk relates to oral care,” says Bergman. About two-thirds of U.S. health care spending is related to noncommunicable diseases, along with mental and oral health. That’s a lot of money in a country that spent $4.8 trillion on health care last year, about 17.6% of GDP.
And yet most Americans have their dental benefits capped at between $1,000 and $2,000 per year, which can mean foregoing treatment that might avert more serious conditions.
Bergman is doing something about it. In addition to industry initiatives like PSHA, Henry Schein has invested in oral care education for doctors, partnerships to address oral health inequities and lobbied to increase access to care. Bergman describes such efforts as “enlightened self-interest,” which put Henry Schein on Fortune’s 2022 Change the World list as a company that’s addressing social problems and making money while doing so.
Our 2024 Change the World list is out this morning. (More on that below.) Now in its 10th year, it showcases 52 businesses that are doing well by doing good. Henry Schein is a reminder of the hundreds of companies we’ve profiled over the years that continue to make a difference.
“If you spend money on oral care, you'll spend less on health care,” says Bergman. “Everyone should have access to that”—in good times and bad.
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Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com