In Kentucky's Teeth, Toll of Poverty and Neglect

The New York Times

Audio and Photography: Stephen Crowley
Co-producer: Thomas Lin
Picture and audio editing: Stephen Crowley

In Kentucky bootleg denture-makers exist here for a reason: Kentucky has the highest proportion of adults under 65 without teeth and about half of the residents lack dental insurance. "People need teeth, but they can't afford to go to dentists for dentures," said one bootlegger who has seen the shame of a 14-year-old girl who would not lift her head because she had lost most of her teeth from malnutrition, and the do-it-yourself pride of an elderly mountain man who, unable to afford a dentist, pulled his own infected teeth with a pair of pliers.