Oral health survey finds more than 2,600 kids had extensive decay.

By heather may

| The Salt Lake Tribune

The same sugary drinks and sweets that can make children fat are also giving them cavities.

A report released Monday shows more than half of Utah children ages 6 to 9 have had tooth decay, which can lead to pain, infection, problems with eating and difficulty learning.

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At a glance

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Promoting prevention

The Utah Department of Health promotes dental education and decay prevention methods such as checkups, sealants (thin, plastic coatings applied to the surfaces of the back teeth to prevent decay) and fluoride (varnish, rinses, water, and supplements) for all youth.

For more information or a copy of the complete report, contact the Oral Health Program at 801-538-9177 or visit the web site at http://health.utah.gov/oralhealth/pdf/oralHealthReport_2011.pdf.

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Even worse, the Utah Department of Health estimates that 2,655 children attended school with pain or infection from extensive decay that required emergency or urgent dental care.

Brushing and flossing and regularly seeing a dentist — as well as limiting sugary snacks — can prevent decay. But not enough children are benefiting from prevention efforts.

"Tooth decay remains the single most common chronic disease," said Steven Steed, the department’s dental director. "It’s preventable. We should be virtually ... cavity free."

The report, issued by the department’s Oral Health Program every five years, shows wide gaps between the dental health of white children and children of color, between non-Latinos and Latinos, and between the insured and uninsured.

Non-Latino children were more likely to have dental insurance, to regularly visit a dentist and to have healthier teeth.

The results are from a 2010 survey of parents of 3,025 children across the state. The department also examined the children’s teeth to determine if they had fillings, if their teeth showed signs of decay and if they had sealants.

Overall, it appears oral health is improving: The percentage of children with caries (known as cavities or tooth decay) dropped 4 points from 2005. The percentage of children with untreated cavities also dropped.

But the survey also found:

• 33 percent of Latino children didn’t have dental insurance, compared with 20 percent of non-Latino children. More parents of Latino children reported their children had unmet dental needs, and the top reason was financial: Either they didn’t have insurance or couldn’t afford the care.

• Bottled water was the primary source of drinking water for about half of the Latino children, compared with 15 percent of non-Latino children. Bottled water likely has little to no fluoridation, which can help prevent cavities.

Steed said immigrants may have had to rely on bottled water in their home countries — not realizing that tap water here is safe.

• Overall, 51.7 percent of children have had cavities — higher than the 2020 national goal of 49 percent.

But 69 percent of Latino children had dental caries compared with 47 percent of non-Latino children.

Children with government insurance, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program were more likely to have past caries than even children without insurance.

Lincoln Nehring, policy analyst with Voices for Utah Children, said Medicaid has reduced what it pays dentists and children struggle to find care. "Every pediatric dentist I’ve ever talked to said they lose money on every Medicaid kid that walks in the door."