National Children’s Dental Health Month: For Some California Kids, Dental Care Remains Elusive
As National Children’s Dental Health Month winds down, we’re highlighting a number of developments relating to children’s oral health and access to dental care.
In recent news, Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, will require children’s health plans available on the exchange to include pediatric dental coverage starting in 2015. Also, dental coverage for adults, which often has an impact on whether their children receive regular dental care, will be partially restored under Denti-Cal beginning May 1.
The Children’s Dental Health Project and Families USA have just released a new consumer guide for parents trying to evaluate dental coverage on the exchanges in California and nationwide.
And the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has published a new issue brief, Dental Care Access for Children in California: Institutionalized Inequality, that examines shortcomings in the state’s social safety net of publicly funded health care services related to dental care.
So how are California children faring when it comes to getting the dental care they need? That all depends on their income, insurance status, race/ethnicity and where they live.
While an estimated 73% of California children ages 2-11 and 78% of youths ages 12-17 had a dental visit in the past six months, approximately 10% of children between the ages of 2-11 had never had a dental visit. Some counties reported that more than one-fifth of children have never been to the dentist by the age of 11, according to 2011-12 data from kidsdata.org.
Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children ages 6-18, and cavities among even younger children are on the rise, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Tooth decay and other oral diseases disproportionately affect low-income children, children of color, and the uninsured; these children are less likely to receive routine dental check-ups. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends dental visits every six months.
Regular dental care is one of the best forms of prevention available, so it is important that all kids have ready access to high quality, affordable dental care.
For more information about dental care in California, see these measures on kidsdata.org:
Length of Time Since Last Dental Visit
Unmet Needs for Preventive Dental Care Among Children with Special Health Care Needs
More Resources:
National Children’s Dental Health Month
California HealthCare Foundation: Dental Health
Children’s Dental Health Project
Photo credit: Dillweed via flickr
Posted by Amy Lam
This entry was posted on Monday, February 24th, 2014 at 11:27 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.