State kids' dental decay one of the worst

"It's absolutely a low-income and minority problem," said Wynne Grossman, executive director of the Oakland-based nonprofit organization that did the survey. "We saw a lot of disease in high-income people too, but if you don't have the insurance to go to the dentist, or if you have public insurance but the reimbursement rates are so low the dentists won't accept you, then some of those parents might not take their children at all."

The oral health advocacy group examined more than 21,000 children in kindergarten and third grade at 186 California schools last year and compared rates of tooth decay to those in 24 other states. The California study was released Sunday.

More than a quarter of those surveyed had untreated cavities, which means about 750,000 schoolchildren are likely not getting the dental care they need, the study found.

Of those children with untreated cavities, about four percent, or 138,000 children, needed urgent dental care, the study found.

A large number of young students had never even been to a dentist.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children have their first dental exam by age 1, but the study found that 17 percent of kindergartners and more than 5 percent of third-graders had never seen a dentist.

Hispanic youngsters appear to be faring the worst. They showed higher overall rates of tooth decay, 72 percent, and untreated decay, about 33 percent, than other ethnic groups, the study found.

By comparison, about 48 percent of white students had tooth decay, and about 20 percent had untreated decay, the study found.

Many parents mistakenly believe that dental care for their children doesn't start until their adult teeth start coming in, said Dr. Santos Cortez, president of the California Society of Pediatric Dentistry.

"As a Latino, I can speak directly to that. If we don't have the early health care information, we as consumers do make bad assumptions," he said. "I see it all the time in my practice. "They're only baby teeth, they're only going to fall out, so why should I invest any funding or resources?" It's a lack of education."

Decayed teeth not only causes painful toothaches, but it can also prevent children from sleeping and eating properly, and it makes some children more susceptible to health problems including ear and sinus infections, Cortez said.

The foundation is scheduled to present its findings on Feb. 28 to the a state Assembly committee. The group is calling for the state to offer financial incentives to dentists who treat children from low-income families and to provide multilingual education targeted at ethnic communities.<