According to a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Americans have less tooth decay and less tooth loss than just a decade ago.  The most current estimates of dental the amount of dental decay (cavities), preventive techniques, and tooth loss were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). “This survey represents the oral health of 256 million Americans,” said Dr. Bruce Pihlstrom, DDS, acting director of the division of clinical research and health promotion at NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. “While the findings are encouraging, the report clearly tells us that more effort is needed to improve the oral health of low-income Americans.”

 

The percentage of children 6 to 19 years old who have never had cavities in permanent teeth has decreased 15% since 1994.  Even though this is great news, 32 percent of Mexican-American and 27 percent of black children ages 2 to 11 had untreated decay compared to 18 percent for Caucasian children.

 

For lower income adults, more than one third had untreated dental decay compared with 16 percent for high income adults.

 

There was more bad news for smokers with 14 percent of current smokers older than 20 years having lost all of their teeth compared to 4.6 percent of the edentulous population having never smoked.

 

One reason for the improvements cited is dental sealants.  These groove-sealing resins keep the decay-causing bacteria from penetrating the susceptible fissures in the teeth.  Again, income levels made a difference.  37.9 percent of white children had at least one sealant while 23.4 Mexican-American children and 22.6 of black children had at least one sealant.

 

The survey shows that much progress has been made in a relatively short time because of  sealants, fluoride treatments, patient education, the increased number of school programs on oral health ,and the hard work and dedication of dental professionals. Also apparent, is the need to continue to reach even more of the population with education and prevention.

 

The full report, “Surveillance for Dental Caries, Dental Sealants, Tooth Retention, Edentulism and Enamel Fluorosis-United States, 1988-1994 and 1999-2002, “is available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.