According to a new report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tooth decay has increased in preschool children while oral health continues to improve among older Americans.
The report says that tooth decay in primary teeth (baby or milk teeth) in children aged between 2 and 5 has gone up from 24 per cent in 1988-1994 to 28 per cent in 1999-2004.
The CDC report does not suggest any reasons for this decline in oral health among the very young, but media reports are speculating that the rise in drinking bottled water as opposed to fluoridated tap water could be partly to blame.
The data comes from the CDC’s
Not all the news is bad; indeed it mentions many significant improvements too. For instance:
— Tooth decay in permanent teeth of 6 to 11 year olds has gone down from 25 to 21 per cent.
— Tooth decay in permanent teeth of 12 to 19 year olds has gone down from 68 to 59 per cent.
— The use of dental sealants (a plastic coating over teeth to protect them from decay) in 6 to 11 year olds has gone up from 22 to 30 per cent.
— The use of dental sealants in 12 to 19 year olds has gone up from 18 to 38 per cent.
— Moderate and severe gum disease (periodontitis) among 20 to 64 year olds had gone down from 10 to 5 per cent.
— Moderate and severe periodontitis among those aged 65 and over had gone down from 27 to 17 per cent.
— Complete tooth loss (edentulism) mong those aged 65 and over had gone down from 34 to 27 per cent.
However, there is no reason to be complacent; the report says there are worrying racial and ethnic differences in oral health among American children. For instance 31 per cent of 6 to 11 year old Mexican American children had tooth decay while this figure was only 19 per cent for non-Hispanic white children overall.
The report’s lead author, Dr Bruce Dye, who is a dentist himself said:
“This report shows that while we are continuing to make strides in prevention of tooth decay, this disease clearly remains a problem for some racial and ethnic groups, many of whom have more treated and untreated tooth decay compared to other groups.”
Poverty is also a factor, the report finds.
While 4 per cent of children living above the federal poverty line had untreated tooth decay, this figure trebles to 12 per cent for children below the poverty line.
Dr William R Maas, another dentist who is also director of the CDC’s Division of Oral Health said:
“Although preventive measures, such as dental sealants, have been widely available for years, we need to focus our efforts on reaching children living in poverty who stand to benefit the most from them.”
He also said that the report challenges all efforts to:
“Reach those most in need with effective preventive measures, and to provide guidance and health education to others, for instance, smokers whose oral health can greatly benefit from quitting.”
The report also found that dental visits had gone down among 20 to 64 year olds. During the period 1999-2004 only 60 per cent report having seen the dentist in the past year compared to 66 per cent who said this in the 1988-1994 survey.
“Trends in Oral Health Status-United States, 1988-1994 and 1999-2004.”
Dye BA, Tan S, Smith V, Lewis BG, Barker LK, Thornton-Evans G, et al.
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 11(248). 2007
Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today