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Div. of Media Relations
1600 Clifton Road
MS D-14
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3286
Fax (404) 639-7394 |
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Press Release
For Release:
August 25, 2005
Noon ET |
Contact: CDC's National Center
for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion Office of Communication
770-488-5131
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New Report Finds Improvements in
Oral Health of Americans
The oral health status of Americans has significantly improved during the
past decade, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The
report uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
and provides the most current estimates of dental conditions such as
cavities, use of dental sealants to prevent cavities and tooth loss.
Among the major findings are improvements since 1994 in the percentage of
children and teens who have never had tooth decay in their permanent teeth;
increased use of dental sealants (a thin plastic coating applied to the
chewing surfaces of back teeth to prevent decay); and increased tooth
retention among older adults.
“The good news is that efforts to reduce and prevent cavities and dental
disease are paying off. We are seeing an increase in the number of children,
teens and adults who have never had a cavity in their permanent teeth,” said
Dr. William R. Maas, DDS, MPH, director, CDC division of oral health. “It’s
also very encouraging to find the dental health of children in lower income
areas improved. Thanks to programs in schools that promote tooth brushing and
dental sealants, we’re reaching more children at high risk for tooth decay
and helping them to avoid cavities and fillings.”
However, the report does find that 65 percent of adolescents aged 16 to 19
years have had tooth decay or fillings in their permanent teeth.
“This survey represents the oral health of more than 256 million
Americans,” said Dr. Bruce Pihlstrom, DDS, acting director of the division of
clinical research and health promotion at NIH’s National Institute of Dental
and Craniofacial Research. “While the findings are encouraging, the report
clearly tells us that more effort is needed to improve the oral health of
low-income Americans.”
Other key findings of the report include:
- There was a 15 percent decrease in the prevalence of tooth decay in
permanent teeth for children and adolescents aged 6 to19 years. This ranged
from a 4 percent decrease in decay for Mexican-American
children/adolescents to an 18 percent decrease in white, non-Hispanic
children and adolescents.
- There was a 64 percent increase in the use of dental sealants among
children and adolescents aged 6 to19 years, with one in three children
having at least one dental sealant on their permanent teeth. This increase
was found across all racial and ethnic groups and for children of all
income levels.
- One-quarter of adults aged 60 and older had lost all their teeth – a
decrease of nearly 20 percent from the previous survey, which found that
nearly a third of all older adults had lost all their teeth.
- Smokers had a greater chance of being toothless. Fourteen percent of
current smokers older than 20 years had lost all their teeth, compared with
only 4.6 percent of people who had never smoked.
- About one-third of children and adolescents 6 to 19 years had enamel
fluorosis of their teeth, although most was very mild. Enamel fluorosis
happens when the teeth absorb too much fluoride as they develop beneath the
gums. In its mildest form, fluorosis shows up as white spots on the teeth.
Moderate to severe fluorosis, where teeth are discolored and sometimes
pitted, was found in less than 4 percent of children and adolescents.
Despite improvements in tooth decay levels, increased dental sealant use,
and greater retention of teeth among adults, disparities in oral health
remain. For instance, 32 percent of Mexican-American and 27 percent of
non-Hispanic black children aged 2 to 11 years had untreated decay in their
primary (baby) teeth, compared to 18 percent of non-Hispanic white children.
Although there were increases in the use of dental sealants for children
of all racial and income groups, a larger percentage of non-Hispanic white
children (37.9 percent) had at least one sealed tooth, compared with
Mexican-American (23.4 percent) or non-Hispanic black (22.6 percent)
children.
Disparities in oral health also were seen among adults. Among higher
income adults, 16 percent had untreated tooth decay, compared to more than
one-third of lower income adults.
The full report, “Surveillance for Dental Caries, Dental Sealants, Tooth
Retention, Edentulism and Enamel Fluorosis – United States, 1988-1994 and
1999-2002,” is available at
www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
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