Nearly two out of three California children under the age of eight are suffering from untreated tooth decay.

An estimated 138,000 five- to eight-year-olds are plagued by sinusitis, ear infections, abscesses and other severe health problems due to unchecked dental disease. 

Latino children have nearly twice the rate of rampant dental decay than that of Caucasian children.

The sobering 2006 Oral Health Needs Assessment in Children released in February by the Dental Health Foundation shines a harsh and unflattering light on California’s oral health care crisis.  The study examined the tiny mouths of more than 21,300 children in kindergarten and third-grade classrooms around the state.  The study also found more than 5,000 children with untreated dental disease and estimates as many as 750,000 school-age children are in desperate need of dental care. 

Gene Sekiguchi, associate dean for international, professional and legislative affairs, joined representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles Oral Health Foundation and UCLA School of Dentistry for a February 6 press conference held at the Children’s Dental Center in Inglewood. Television and radio stations countywide aired the event, which reported the findings and offered concrete solutions to combat this growing epidemic.

The problem is serious and completely avoidable, explained Jonathan Fielding, director of the county’s public health department.

“We should not accept this high rate.  This is a very preventable disease, and we need to focus on prevention,” he said.

In addition to statewide findings, the study revealed that the problem is even more acute in highly populated communities around Los Angeles.  For example, the study notes that 60 percent of children under the age of five attending schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District have dental decay, compared with 50 percent statewide.  Of the nearly 3,700 children screened at LAUSD school sites, 70 percent had a history of tooth decay, compared with 62 percent statewide. 

The study found that only 21 percent of third-graders in LAUSD have sealants, compared to 28 percent in the statewide findings. 

“It is embarrassing that California is among the worst states in the country,” Sekiguchi said.  “We are in fact at about the same level as Arkansas.”  The problem he said could be attributed to a number of factors, including a shortage of pediatric dentists and the inadequate availability of dental insurance. “But it is an epidemic, and we need to address this,” he said.

Only four cities in Los Angeles County currently fluoridate their tap water – Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Long Beach and Pico Rivera.  Even as the Metropolitan Water District prepares to add fluoride to water pumped throughout its district, the expert panel recommended measures to increase fluoridation across the state.  “More progress is needed,” Fielding said.

The panel advocated that children should see a dentist by their first birthday. They also urged parents and caregivers to model good oral health by teaching proper brushing and flossing techniques.  Children, they said, should also receive dental sealants once their first molars erupt by age six or seven. 

Because children without dental insurance have twice the rate of dental disease, the panel urged families to get dental insurance or to seek out low-cost dental clinics.

“We have to think in terms of prevention,” Sekiguchi said. “Once we begin to alter lifestyles through education…we will begin to affect these future populations.”

Related Web sites:

Dental Health Foundation’s 2006 Oral Health Needs Assessment in Children
http://www.dentalhealthfoundation.org/topics/public/index.shtml