Children’s Dental Health in Colorado - Neglected Health, Neglected Hope

Colorado is 75% fluoridated:

"many children suffer from severe dental problems that affect their eating, learning,
speech, and general well-being. Many children in Colorado have never seen a dentist. In too many cases, the only
dental care a child receives is in a hospital emergency room for a decaying tooth that has abscessed and become
infected. These children are primarily from low-income, working families – many of whom are uninsured.
Thousands of parents in Colorado who get up every morning, go to work, pay their taxes, and “play by the rules”
cannot provide their children with the dental care they need."

saljournal.com - Front Page:

"But the reality is that in Salina, in nearly every Kansas county, in virtually all states, the poor have difficulty getting dental care."

CISD seeks dentists’ help for students

"Most of the children with severe decay and pain live in poverty — they do not have insurance or money to pay for expensive dental work.

“I see everything from abscesses to teeth that need to be pulled,” Chauret said. “These kids can’t even concentrate in class because they’re in so much pain.”

"But not all dentists are generous with their time.

'Lots of times, I can’t even get past the secretary,' Chauret said. 'You’d be surprised how few positive responses we get.'”

Muzi.com | News : China to tackle rural water contamination:

"Prolonged exposure to excess fluoride causes spinal and dental problems. It has affected 113,402 Chinese villages and sickened 22.3 million people, according to officials."

The Robesonian Online:

In 85% fluoridated North Carolina

"'You see babies coming in with their teeth decayed and older folks with no teeth, and you think to yourself, 'What century are we living in?'' Lowery said. 'We have this beautiful dental center sitting there with all this great equipment and we don't have a dentist."

Salisbury Post | LOCAL NEWS | Good Shepherd's Clinic opens preventative dental clinic:

Most of Rowan County and 85% of North Carolina is fluoridated

"She works in schools and sees first-hand the effects of Rowan having the highest rate of dental disease in the state for kids entering school. She's seen kids with all their teeth decayed to the nerve. She's seen a child die from the infection caused by tooth decay left to spread unchecked."

Paris Beacon News:

Fluoridation is mandated in the state of Illinois:

"Unfortunately, the availability of specialized treatment for ... dental care and other problems is woefully inadequate for meeting the need. "

"Dental care is often inaccessible for low-income youth due to youths’ lack of insurance or dentists’ unwillingness to accept Medicaid."

Post-Crescent - Demand strong for dental care to poor:

Grand Chute and 89% of Wisconsin is fluoridated:

"�The need right now is so great for doing emergency and basic care that in 2005, that will be the major emphasis � to try to see as many patients as we can,� she said. �People who haven�t seen a dentist in years are coming and their dental needs are so great.�"

News Tracker

WBIR-TV, Knoxville, TN:

Most of Jefferson County, Tennessee is fuoridated:

"we see people constantly that are in very badly need of dental work.'

The Craig Daily Press: Nonprofits get cash:

Craig city and most of Moffat County is fluoridated as is 75% of Colorado.

"According to a five-county assessment including Moffat County, 4,200 children showed obvious signs of tooth decay. According to dental screenings in Craig schools, at least 144 children showed obvious signs of tooth decay."

Dental unit takes services to area campuses :

Georgia is 93% fluoridated:

"�We see many children with dental problems and have never been to a dentist,� "

Dentist shortage means many live in pain:

"Monique McMillian knows what it's like to have teeth that hurt. She is 9 and lives in Rumford, in western Maine. She had to have four teeth pulled. They were black with decay. Whenever she ate, it hurt. She stopped brushing because it was too painful."

Rumford, Maine, is naturally fluoridated at 1.2 part per million (Children Need Dentists NOT Fluoride)

Dentist shortage means many live in pain:


"We're seeing kids no one else can or is willing to see," said one of two dental hygienists who staff the van

Money woes threaten clinic for needy - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper:

"Money woes threaten clinic for needy "

SKAGIT VALLEY HERALD.com:

"Parnell said the county's poor also have said they have difficulty finding enough food and getting medical care, particularly dental care."

Children on Medicaid behind on dental care:

"GENESEE COUNTY - Ask local dentists why nearly 27,000 poor children did not go to the dentist last year, and you get some harsh answers about money, values and time. "

The Children's Defense Fund:

"In letters to every House and Senate member, the coalition argued that it is essential to use these funds to maintain insurance coverage of children in low-income working families. Never before has Congress left these funds in the Treasury rather than use the money to provide health coverage to children who need it most."

wnbc.com - Politics - Westchester Budget Proposal: No Increase In Property Tax Levy:

"Other savings stem from the closing of county dental clinics"

A recipe for disaster: kids, fat, sugar and salt:

"American children's teeth are under assault, and Springdale pediatric dentist Dr. Cindy Pong sees the effect on her patients - an especially vicious sort of decay that begins at the gum line and demineralizes enamel, eroding even baby teeth. Pong knows the cause: An increase in soda, sweets and nearly nonstop snacking."

Oral health risk differences in children with public and private insurance:

" 3 to 5 year-old children with Medicaid were 70% less likely to use toothpaste than their NM counterparts (p=0.01). Snacking patterns for children with Medicaid showed increased caries risk. Children with Medicaid had sweet drinks more often (2.1 servings per day, 1.5 for NM children, p<0.001), & consumed fewer servings of fruit and vegetables. Medicaid families reported lack of dental insurance & having a family dentist more often than NM families. Pervasive disparities in family dental history, nutrition and access to dental care result in more negative OH outcomes in children with Medicaid"

Community DentCare Network: Community-academic partnerships as a model in identifying, addressing, and reducing oral health disparities:

New York City is 100% fluoridated:

"Poor oral health was identified as the number 1 complaint in a population-based survey of Central Harlem conducted in 1992-1994. "

Sustaining access and informing policy: The "health commons" approach to oral health in New Mexico:


"Access to oral health services in New Mexico is poor and getting worse"

Health care system approach to meet the oral health needs of medically indigent children:

North and South Carolina are 85% and 91% fluoridated:

"Access to dental services in the mid-Carolinas was the most pressing unmet need in local school children, with greatest disparities among children eligible for public assistance or the free and reduced lunch program. Annual screenings in the schools documented that nearly 50% had dental needs with half presenting with urgent needs"

Courier Herald:

Georgia is 92% fluoridated:

"City Schools Registered Nurse Trini Stevenson said she often sees students come in with cavities, toothaches and ongoing infection"

Hartford Advocate: Toothless Response:

Connecticut is 88% fluoridated:

"In Connecticut, as elsewhere around the country, oral health problems were the most chronic disease of childhood, causing missed school days and problems with eating and speaking, and setting the stage for other illnesses in adulthood."

USNews.com: Health: In Brief: Oral Health: Open wide (11/9/04):

Harlem, in New York City, is fluoridated:

"In Harlem, N.Y., 46 percent of African-American seniors were missing teeth"

Mobile Dentists fill the gap:

Plainwell, Michigan, is not fluoridated:

"'This district (Plainwell) seems to have even fewer decay rates,' "

News Tracker

Post-Crescent - Demand strong for dental care to poor:

Wisconsin is 89% fluoridated:

"�The need right now is so great for doing emergency and basic care that in 2005, that will be the major emphasis � to try to see as many patients as we can,� she said. �People who haven�t seen a dentist in years are coming and their dental needs are so great.�"

Green Bay Press-Gazette - Lakeshore dental clinic filling need in community:

Wisconsin is 89.4% fluoridated

"A 2001-02 survey of third-grade children found those in the Northeastern region, including the Lakeshore, to have the second-highest percentage of untreated tooth decay in the state. Children from lower-income schools have more untreated tooth decay."

The Craig Daily Press: Health checks lead to 161 referrals:

The city of Craig, Colorado, is fluoridated to 1 part per million (1 ppm)

"Of the nearly 1,000 students who underwent dental screenings in October, 144 were referred to immediate full-scale services because they showed visible decay.
'What concerns me the most is this is just visible decay,' Northwest Colorado Dental Coalition Director Debbie Harmon said. 'There are more forms (of decay) that can be found with X-rays. This is real serious."

"Many are either insured by Medicaid, which no dentist in Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, Grand or Jackson counties will accept, or they're not insured at all."

Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter - Dental clinic at LTC is filling need:

Wisconsin is 89% fluoridated

"A 2001-02 DHFS survey of third-grade children found those in the Northeastern region, including the Lakeshore, to have the second-highest percentage of untreated tooth decay in the state. Children from lower income schools have more untreated tooth decay. The prevalence of dental sealants, which prevent tooth decay, was the worst in the area as well."

Fluoridation is mandated in Illinois:

"�Before I arrived, I was unaware of the numbers who have not received care, or that those numbers would be so high,� said the doctor. "

Fort Worth, Texas is fluoridated:

"A Fort Worth dentist, who also asked not to be identified, said that many patients who have experience with high-volume clinics such as South Texas “come in my door crying and terrified. ... The mothers told me the kids would be at the clinic for seven or eight hours having multiple procedures all on one day, often done without sedation, with the kids strapped down.” The results were “very traumatic.”



"Those who do qualify for Medicaid are finding it harder and harder to locate a dentist willing to see them. In Tarrant County alone, 90,000 children qualify for Medicaid dental care according to the Texas Department of Health, but only 83 dental providers here participate, down from 520 four years ago. �If there aren�t more of us willing to take them,� one local dentist said, �then those who abuse the system and even possibly abuse the kids could wind up being the only providers these children have.� The situation for poor families in Tarrant County needing dental care, he said, is �desperate and dire.�"