The nation’s largest dental insurer wants to make sure dental benefits don’t get lost in the debate and discussion over national health care reform.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Delta Dental Plans Association, whose plans cover Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, among other states, launched www.advancedoralhealth.com to provide promote the need for dental benefits to legislators, regulators, policymakers and the public.

“Delta Dental is committed to advancing the effort to include greater access to affordable dental care in overall health care reform,” said Janis Oshensky, vice president of dental relations and public policy for Delta Dental Plans Association, in a statement.

She noted that more than 130 million Americans lack dental benefits coverage. “As a result, they are nearly half as likely to visit a dentist at least once annually as those with coverage,” Oshensky said. “This endangers not only their oral health, but as studies increasingly show it endangers their overall health as well.”

The website includes information about the effects of poor oral health, the connection between oral and overall health, the significant differences between medical and dental benefits and the importance of preventive dental treatment.

For policy and lawmakers, the site includes policy implications to consider when developing health care reform proposals.

The site suggests that legislative actions that add to the cost of administering dental benefits or hinder the development of lower cost alternative plan designs will have the unintended effect of reducing the number of Americans with access to affordable dental coverage, thereby reducing access to affordable dental care and diminishing public oral health.

It also notes that dental carriers should be encouraged in their efforts to develop and enforce competitive fee arrangements, equitable reimbursement and dental policies and innovative plan designs to ensure necessary and appropriate care in accordance with group contracts and high professional standards.

Delta Dental plans cover serve more than one-quarter of the estimated 173 million Americans with dental insurance, providing national dental coverage to more than 51 million people in about 93,000 groups.