Tooth decay - the number one threat to kids’ health

Milwaukee Community Journal � WISCONSIN'S LARGEST AFRICAN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER � The number one threat to kids’ health: cavities have been on the rise in all income groups, as I’ve reported previously. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that tooth decay affects over one-fourth of two to five year-old children, and half of kids age 12 to 15.

How bad is the problem?

“Dental decay is the most common chronic childhood disease with more than 16 million kids suffering from untreated tooth decay in the U.S.,” Dental Trade Alliance Foundation CEO Gary Price said in a press release. He further added that kids miss more than 50 million hours of school (and parents lose 25 million hours of work) each week.

Wisconsin Gets High Grade for fluoridation and sealants; but has urgent dental needs

Wisconsin is among the five states in the country with the most extensive programs to place dental sealants - plastic coatings applied to the chewing surface of molars to prevent tooth decay - in children.  The state is 88% fluoridated.  Yet, about 7% of children screened have an urgent dental needs

 State among 5 with high grade on child dental sealants:

Dental issues have big effects in poor kids | The Columbus Dispatch

Dental issues have big effects in poor kids | The Columbus Dispatch: “Poverty is the underlying cause of both.”

It boils down to lack of access to fresh, healthful foods and to basic dental care.In [fluoridated] Columbus, as in other cities, the areas where many people live in poverty “don’t have large grocery stores. They have quick stops,” said Dr. Dennis McTigue, professor of pediatric dentistry at Ohio State University and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.“Those places tend to sell processed, high-fat and high-carbohydrate food. When accessing healthy food is difficult, families end up eating the high-carb foods that cause obesity and cavities.”

Stopping the decay; Too many people in Appalachia suffer dental woes that start early and can last a lifetime - DentistryIQ

Ohio is 88% fluoridated. Yet, Too many people in Appalachia suffer dental woes that start early and can last a lifetime - DentistryIQ: "Some of the adult patients at the Southeastern Ohio Dental Clinic didn't see a dentist once during childhood. Children as young as 5 have had to have all their baby teeth pulled.

Patients in their 20s sometimes need dentures.

Often, the only thing that brings them there is pain that won't relent and keeps them from sleeping or working."