February is designated National Children’s Dental Health Month [NCDHM]. This year, many of our IHS, Tribal, and Urban dental programs have conducted activities to help prevent tooth decay in children. Attached is a document that showcases some of these programs.

American Indian/Alaska Native children suffer disproportionately from dental caries, or tooth decay. Preschool children under five years of age have almost four times as many decayed or filled teeth as U.S. white children. Almost twice as many elementary school-age children have tooth decay as the general U.S. population [83% vs. 45%], and they have almost three times as many untreated cavities [47% vs. 17%]. Even among adolescents, almost twice as many AI/AN youth have cavities as non-Native youth in the U.S. [80% vs. 44%] and nearly five times as many have untreated cavities [53% vs. 11%]. Tooth decay is much more than a cavity. It can lead to pain and infection, more missed school days, decreased school performance, and lower self-esteem. In the very young, severe tooth decay may even delay speech development. This is why it is so important for all of us to what we can to help prevent dental caries in AI/AN children.

02/05/2018