U.S. kids have no dental care

Nearly one-fourth of US children have had no dental care in at least a year.

Conducted by researchers at the S.C. Rural Health Research Center at the Arnold School of Public Health, the study found that nearly 25 percent had no dental care in the past year.

More than 47 percent of all children 5 and younger had not seen a dentist in the previous year. Among rural children, the percentage was more than 48 percent. More than 33 percent of rural children had no dental insurance.

Dental care is critical for children, even preschoolers. A thorough dental exam not only helps children have healthy teeth, but also can detect nutritional deficiencies, injuries and some diseases and infections.

Vermont led the nation in the percentage of its children receiving preventive dental care (84 percent); Florida, with nearly 61 percent, had the lowest.  The areas with the greatest shortages are in Northwest and Southwest states, followed by those in the Midwest and Southeast. Among states with a large number of rural people responding to the study, New Hampshire, with nearly 54 percent, had the highest proportion of children with excellent teeth.

Dental care has been designated as the most prevalent unmet health need in U.S. children, and this report underscores that the problem is particularly acute among rural children.

Source: АМИ-ТАСС