Children’s oral health is easily maintained with routine preventive care. But common problems such as decay become debilitating when left untreated. Untreated tooth decay is progressive and can undermine children’s long-term health, educational achievements, self image, and overall success.
Promoting children’s oral health is a good policy: oral health is integral to children’s well-being and investing in it makes solid financial sense for all Californians. For every dollar spent on preventive oral health care, as much as $50 is saved on restorative and emergency oral health procedures.
Preventable oral health problems in children also are a considerable cost to the education system. In California, students miss an estimated 874,000 school days annually due to dental problems. These absences cost local school districts approximately $28.8 million. Because the state already lags behind the rest of the nation on key measures of academic achievement, including per pupil spending, it cannot afford to let poor oral health further compromise children’s education.
According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, only Arizona, Mississippi, Nevada and Washington, D.C. have higher percentages of children with oral health problems. In 2009, California’s oral health care system for children was further eroded, despite California already ranking lowest on national measures of children’s oral health. With the indefinite suspension of the Children’s Dental Disease Prevention Program, California lost its only program that provided school-based preventive oral health services, such as fluoride rinse and dental sealants, to children who otherwise would go without treatment.
Furthermore, this year’s budget cuts also eliminated the vast majority of adult Denti-Cal services, posing an additional barrier to children’s oral health because children are more likely to receive oral health services when their parents visit a dentist. Some providers, such as community clinics and health centers, will no longer be able to afford serving children if the adult population covered by Denti-Cal is lost. Community clinics estimate they will lose $56.5 million in Denti-Cal reimbursement revenue, causing some to eliminate their entire dental programs.
The federal Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA 2009) vastly improved policies for CHIP-eligible children in all states including California, and provides California with opportunities to improve quality and access to dental care for low-income children. Children Now is working with state administrators to leverage these opportunities.
The current federal health care reform packages include significant opportunities to improve children’s access to dental coverage, preventive care, and public education about oral health. Children Now is working to keep the key children’s oral health provisions in the final health care reform bill that is sent to the President.