Disparities in Access to Pediatric Dental Care

April 5-11 is National Public Health Week. This year, the week focuses on eliminating health disparities. According to Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, there are profound and consequential oral health disparities within the U.S. population.1 There is an urgent need to increase access to oral care and end the “silent epidemic” of dental disease afflicting children of the lowest socioeconomic status. Eighty percent of dental disease is found among just 25 percent of children, most of whom are children of low-income and minority parents. Asian and Pacific Islanders and Native American children suffer the most tooth decay, followed by Hispanics, African-American, and white children.