It is such a complicated question to ask these days. Those children indeed have insurance and maybe better health care than others whose parents make "a little too much money". That puts people in a bind. Are they supposed to quit their jobs to afford to take their children to the doctor? I don't have the answers, but it's an unfortunate, broken system, and your case is a perfect example. I'm so sorry for you. Your mouth must have felt horrible for a long time after they put that bridge in right after pulling your teeth. I had the same thing with my front teeth, cavities in between. I remember how embarrassed I was. Finally, the dentist filled them, and my white fillings never fell out. They had to be redone once in my 50s. We didn't go because my dad's jobs didn't always have dental insurance. So when we did go, we had bunches of cavities. It seems abusive today!! But my mom had a complete set of dentures when she was 26, so she did not have dental care in her childhood. Her father was a fireman.