Vital Signs: Dental Sealant Use and Untreated Tooth Decay Among U.S. School-Aged Children

Abstract

Background: Tooth decay is one of the greatest unmet treatment needs among children. Pain and suffering associated with untreated dental disease can lead to problems with eating, speaking, and learning. School-based dental sealant programs (SBSP) deliver a highly effective intervention to prevent tooth decay in children who might not receive regular dental care. SBSPs benefits exceed their costs when they target children at high risk for tooth decay.Methods: CDC used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 to estimate current prevalences of sealant use and untreated tooth decay among low-income (≤185% of federal poverty level) and higher-income children aged 6-11 years and compared these estimates with 1999-2004 NHANES data. The mean number of decayed and filled first molars (DFFM) was estimated for children with and without sealants. Averted tooth decay resulting from increasing sealant use prevalence was also estimated. All reported differences are significant at p<0.05. From 1999From -2004From to 2011From -2014, among low-and higher-income children, sealant use prevalence increased by 16.2 and 8.8 percentage points to 38.7% and 47.8%, respectively. Among low-income children aged 7-11 years, the mean DFFM was almost three times higher among children without sealants (0.82) than among children with sealants. Approximately 6.5 million low-income children could potentially benefit from the delivery of sealants through SBSP. Results: Conclusions and Implications for Public Health Practice:The prevalence of dental sealant use has increased; however, most children have not received sealants. Increasing sealant use prevalence could substantially reduce untreated decay, associated problems, and dental treatment costs.

Did the extended coverage policy contribute to alleviating socioeconomic inequality in untreated dental caries of both children and adolescents in South Korea?

“…Preventive care is the most effective way to minimize both the health and financial burdens of untreated caries. Dental sealants and fluoride applications are common and effective methods for preventing dental caries [5]. In the United States, school-based programs provide sealants to children, especially for subsidized meal program recipients [6].…”

School-based caries prevention and longitudinal trends in untreated decay: an updated analysis with Markov chains

“…Dental caries (tooth decay), a bacterial infection of the tooth enamel or dentin, is the most prevalent and preventable global childhood disease [1,2]. Untreated dental caries affects over 20% of US school-aged children, exceeding 70% amongst low-income and minority children [3][4][5]. For many in these high-risk populations, access to dental care is limited due to financial, cultural, or geographic barriers [6].…”

Silver diamine fluoride versus therapeutic sealants for the arrest and prevention of dental caries in low-income minority children: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…Untreated dental caries affects more than 20% of elementary school-aged children in the United States, and over 50% of children have ever experienced caries. For low-income and minority-group children, caries experience can exceed 70% and the prevalence of untreated caries is greater than 30% [ 4 – 6 ]. Persistent untreated dental caries in children can lead to pulpal involvement and abscess, and contributes to oral pain [ 7 , 8 ].…”