Baby Products - Miscellaneous

BABY ORAL CARE

·Although dental caries (tooth decay) is largely preventable, it remains the most common chronic disease of children aged 5 to 17 years-5 times more common than asthma (59% versus 11%).

·Once established, the disease requires treatment. A cavity only grows larger and more expensive to repair the longer it remains untreated.

·Fewer than 1 in 5 Medicaid-covered children received at least one preventive dental service in a recent year; many states provide only emergency dental services to Medicaid-eligible adults.

·Poor children have nearly 12 times more restricted-activity days because of dental-related illness than children from higher-income families. Pain and suffering due to untreated tooth decay can lead to problems in eating, speaking, and attending to learning.

·Many adults also have untreated dental caries (e.g., 27% of those 35 to 44 years old and 30% of those 65 years and older).

·Children receiving dental sealants in school-based programs have 60% fewer new decayed pit and fissure surfaces in back teeth for up to 2 to 5 years after a single application. Among children, 90% of decay is in pits and fissures.

·School-based sealant programs provide sealants to children unlikely to receive them otherwise (e.g., children in low-income households). Children of racial and ethnic minority groups have about three times more untreated decay and teeth missing due to caries but are about one-third as likely to receive sealants.

·Although 29 states reported dental sealant programs serving 193,000 children, this number represents only about 3% of poor children who could receive sealants.

From The Center for Disease Control