CHDB completes study on children’s access to dental care
Every year, children in the United States miss school due to a variety of ailments. However, did you know that children miss more than 750,000 school days per year due to easily avoidable dental problems?
Savings available to parents over a five-year period by taking their children to the dentist before age one
Tooth decay, for example, is a common condition among children, easily prevented by good oral hygiene and regular dental care. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children receive at least two dental check-ups every year. Though 90% of all dental cavities are preventable, PHMC’s Community Health Data Base (CHDB) findings show that 50% of children in Pennsylvania experience tooth decay by age 15.
Using data from the Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) 2006 Household Health Survey, CHDB examined use of dental care among children aged 4 to 17 years. The data trends identified areas for improvement in our children’s dental care.
How long since your child saw the dentist?
- About 13% of SEPA children did not receive a dental exam in the previous year. Of these 88,700 children, more than half did not visit the dentist due to cost.
- Urban children are more than twice as likely as suburban children not to have seen a dentist in the previous year.
- Children living below poverty level are more than twice as likely not to have seen a dentist in the previous year (22.9% vs. 10.9%, respectively).
- Uninsured children are significantly more likely not to have seen a dentist in the previous year compared with insured children (40% vs. 11.2%, respectively).
- African American and Latino children are more likely not to have had a dental exam in the last year.
- One in five (20.1%) children receiving Medicaid and 12% of children receiving CHIP had not seen a dentist in the past year.
Can parents afford dental care?
CHDB data shows that dental conditions get worse as dental care is delayed. Aside from causing children to miss school, lack of dental care can create extreme pain or discomfort and can lead to higher dental expenses in the future.
In 2006, almost 7% of children who needed dental care did not receive it due to cost or lack of money. This represents 50,500 children in the region foregoing dental care due to cost.
Rural counties in the U.S. experiencing dental health shortages due to geographic barriers
Other CHDB data show:
- Of children aged 11 to 17 years, 8.6% were likely not to get the dental care they needed due to cost; the same was true of 4.7% of those aged 4 to 10.
- Latino children (14.7%) were more likely than black (9.8%) or white (4.1%) children not to get the dental care they needed as a result of cost.
How long has the lack of dental care been affecting our children?
The good news is that things are getting better in our region. Since 1998, the number of children ages four and up who have not seen a dentist has declined and the overall percentage of children who are receiving dental care has increased. Although more children now receive routine dental care, the percentage of children who needed dental care but did not receive it due to cost has increased from 5.4% in 2002 to 6.9% in 2006.
What does this data mean for our children?
CHDB has found that there are ongoing race and income disparities in children’s access to dental services.
States that have laws allowing dental hygienists, instead of dentists, to provide dental services to patients
Data from the 2006 Household Health Survey clearly indicate that uninsured children living in poverty are less likely to have received a dental exam in the past year. Trend data suggest that in recent years an increasing proportion of children who needed dental care had to delay or forego seeking it on at least one occasion due to cost considerations. There remains room for improvement with regard to the utility and affordability of oral health services for children.
Where can you go for affordable dental care?
In Pennsylvania, a number of dental clinics provide free or reduced-fee services to eligible patients. For a listing of these resources by county, please visit the Pennsylvania Dental Association website at www.padental.org.
For more information on the findings presented in this article, please contact CHDB research associate Allegra Gordon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
