Arkansas children have the worst teeth in the USA, closely followed by California. According to a new study, over 70% of third graders in California suffer or have suffered from tooth decay. Hispanics and children from poorer families have the highest levels of tooth decay.
The study was carried out by The Dental Health Foundation. Officials from the foundation said the problem is very closely linked to low income and ethnicity. They said that even though tooth decay was lower among children from higher income families, even there it was much higher than expected.
The main reason poor families have more children with tooth decay is lack of health insurance cover. Even if you have some cover, if your reimbursement rates are too low dentists won’t accept you, they said.
21,000 children from 186 schools in California were monitored in this study. California was compared to 24 other states.
The researchers found that over 25% of children had untreated cavities – a total of 750, 000 Californian children. 4% of them had serious dental problems that needed urgent attention.
Researchers were surprised that many children had never been to see a dentist in their lives.
Hispanic children had the worst teeth and the highest percentage of children who had never been to a dentist. 72% of Hispanic children had tooth decay, compared to 48% of white children.
Another reason many parents do not take their young children to the dentist is that they mistakenly believe it does not matter while the child still has his/her milk teeth. They believe you should start being concerned after the adult teeth have appeared.
Untreated tooth decay among very young children causes:
— Sleeping problems
— Eating problems
— Higher ear infection rates
— Higher sinus infection rates
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today