The author assumes a bit too much about the significance of oral health to the rest of the body.  In truth the research is sketchy about oral disease contributing to heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  There has been serious backtracking by the academic experts on this proposed idea.  Thus oral health care remains an elective service and those who choose not to pay for such care can go the route of dentures - as all of my grandparents and their siblings did long ago.  Besides, how is it different having government pay for oral health care, when it comes out of individuals' pockets anyways?  This size of welfare 
 and health care entitlements is already too bloated in this country, we ought to be looking at ways to hybridize (private public) general health care first, instead of getting ideologically bent on socialized and redistributed everything.