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A new report card on dental health in America doesn't contain much to smile about.
Researchers give the U.S. a C-minus overall for the lackluster way Americans take care of their teeth and gums.
Surgeon General
Dr. David Satcher
has chimed in on the issue by calling poor dental health, "The Silent Epidemic."
Satcher says a lack of fluoridated water and a lack of access to dental insurance are the main reasons dental health is in such a state of decay, so to speak.
Satcher also says poor children are most susceptible to inadequate oral health
care, saying one in four children are adversely affected.
Today's report card comes from the non-profit advocacy group known as Oral
Health America and follows a report from Satcher's office last May that drew
the same conclusions.
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In developing the report card, Oral Health America compiled existing federal and state data, and then assigned grades on both state
and national levels to the following categories:
- prevention
- access to care
- health status
Measures under each category include
fluoridation rates, Medicaid reimbursement rates, incidence of oral cancer, spit tobacco use, frequency of dental visits, prevalence of
dental clinics, and dental insurance status.
For details and a state-by-state listing, go to www.OralHealthAmerica.org. Click on "Oral Health Report Card."
