FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2012
Contact: Nikki Reen (267.295.3859 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
New Data Show Many Children Have Poor Access
PHILADELPHIA— In 2010, Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base (CHDB) collected data about children’s access to dental care as part of its extensive biennial Household Health Survey of over 13,000 residents living in Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA). PHMC’s data show that a large number of children among various demographics in SEPA do not receive the regular preventive dental care recommended by dental health professionals.
SEPA’s experience is part of a national issue. Tooth decay, a common condition among children, can easily be avoided through a regular routine of oral hygiene and dental visits. Yet more than 25% of children in the United States between the ages of two and five are affected by tooth decay; this figure increases to over 50% among children ages 12 to 15.* According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, children should receive at minimum two dental check-ups every year. Young children who lack access to annual dental check-ups often experience costly and painful dental problems as they get older, leading to school absenteeism and other complications. Approximately 16% of children ages 6 to 19 went untreated for tooth decay due to lack of dental care access.**
Annual Dental Visits in 2010
The CHDB Household Health Survey found that in 2010 approximately 67,400 children in Southeastern Pennsylvania between the ages of 4 and 17 did not see a dentist in the previous year, representing 9.1% of children in the region. Philadelphia County has the highest percentage of children who did not see a dentist in the previous year (12.6%), followed by Delaware (10.5%), Bucks (6.9%), Montgomery (5.8%) and Chester (5.5%) counties.
The survey results also showed differences among racial and ethnic groups. About one out of six Asian children (15.1%) did not visit a dentist in the previous year, followed closely by Latino (14.0%) and Black (13.8%) children. Additionally, 6.2% of White children did not have a dental visit within the previous year.
Researchers also found that children already suffering from poor health were less likely to receive regular dental visits. Close to twenty percent of children in fair or poor health did not have a dental visit (18.5%) while 8.8% of children in good, very good, or excellent health did not visit the dentist in the previous year.
Insurance and poverty play key roles in children’s access to dental care. The data show that 29.8% of uninsured children did not visit the dentist in the previous year, while 13.4% of children with any type of public insurance and 6.1% of children with private insurance did not see a dentist.*** Children in households 200% below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) were twice as likely (14.3%) as children in households at 200% or above the FPL (6.7%) to not have seen a dentist in the previous year.
The Costs of Dental Care
The costs of dental care factor into family decisions involving a child’s dental care. In the SEPA region, about 45,700 children, or 6.2% of children, were unable to see a dentist in the previous year because of cost. Delaware County has the highest percentage of children who did not receive dental care due to cost (7.7%), followed by Philadelphia (7.2%), Chester (6.1%), Montgomery (5.8%) and Bucks (2.9%) counties.
- Thirteen percent of Asian children did not receive dental care due to cost. About 9% of both Black and Latino children and 4.4% of White children did not see a dentist in the previous year due to cost.
- Children in fair or poor health were twice as likely not to have seen a dentist in the previous year because of the cost (12%) compared with children in good, very good or excellent health (6%).
- Approximately three out of 10 children without medical insurance did not see a dentist in the previous year due to cost (30.9%); about one out of 25 (4.1%) children covered by private medical insurance and two out of 25 (8.0%) children covered by any type of public insurance did not have a dental care visit because of cost.
- More than ten percent of children (10.5%) living in households 200% below the Federal Poverty Level did not see a dentist due to cost in the previous year, while 4.1% of children living at or above 200% of the FPL did not receive dental care because of cost.
For more information about children’s access to dental care in Southeastern Pennsylvania, please contact Nicole Dreisbach, Research Associate, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
References
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Oral health. http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/AAG/doh.htm
**National Center for Health Statistics. (2010) Health, United States, 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus10.pdf#073
***Medicaid, CHIP, and any other type of public insurance were combined to create a single “any public insurance” variable for this comparison.
About CHDB
Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base Household Health Survey is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country. The Pew Charitable Trusts, William Penn Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, United Way of North Penn, CIGNA Foundation, Green Tree Community Health Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, North Penn Community Health Foundation, the Thomas Scattergood Foundation and over 350 local agencies from the health, government, nonprofit and academic sectors help to support CHDB. To view previous data news releases, please click here. For more information, please visit www.chdbdata.org
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce. PHMC has served the region since 1972.
