Equity: Reducing Oral Health Disparities

Income inequalities remain an ongoing concern for children's oral health. Children living in poverty suffer twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers, and their decay is more likely to go untreated.

Significant inequalities in oral health remain in the U.S. based on income, race/ethnicity, disability and geographic location.  Today, young adults from middle and high-income families may have very few cavities (and less tooth decay) thanks to many factors that include, but are not limited to, access to community water fluoridation, dental sealants and dental insurance.   We know that a disporportionate share of tooth decay, approximately 80 percent of tooth decay, is found in 25 percent of children.

Income inequalities remain an ongoing concern for children's oral health.  Children living in poverty suffer twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers, and their decay is more likely to go untreated.

Among ethnic and racial minority groups, non-white children had greater unmet dental needs than white children, with Hispanic and Native American children at particularly high risk.  Native American and Latino children were least likely to have dental insurance, with approximately two thirds of each group having dental coverage, compared with 78% to 85% coverage rates in other racial/ethnic groups.

Families of children with special needs identify dental care is the most prevalent unmet health care need, supassing mental health, home health, hearing aids and all other services.  One-in-four parents of children with special needs report unmet need for immediate dental care.

Geographic isolation, whether in rural/frontier areas or urban settings, has created growing concerns about the distribution of dental professionals.  According to the federal government there are 48 million Americans live in a federally designated dental professional shortage areas- it would take over 9,000 professionals to alleviate the dental needs in those communities.