Child Dental Care

Mar 8th, 2010

Study: KY Gets a 'C' For Kids' Access to Dental Care

Public News Service-KY

Kentucky is serving kids well in some areas, but not in others, when it comes to dental care, according to a new survey. The Pew Center on the States report gives the state a grade of 'C' overall for meeting criteria in four of eight areas examined.

Pew's Dental Campaign Manager Laurie Norris says Kentucky's bright spot is water fluoridation, where it's a leader among all states.

"At present, 99.8 percent of their community water systems are fluoridated, which is terrific."

Norris says Kentucky also does well when it comes to reimbursement rates for dentists' Medicaid charges, but that's of limited value to kids needing dental work.

"Kentucky is one of those states where those high rates don't pay off with good access. Kentucky is one of only three states with fewer than 25 percent of their Medicaid-enrolled children getting access to care."

Norris says the study, as a whole, finds that even in states that performed well, there is a lot of room for improvement.

"Seventeen million children go without dental care every year. Two-thirds of the states do not have key policies in place to insure dental health and access to dental care for children."

Norris says rural areas in Kentucky, and most states, provide a challenge since there may not be dentists practicing there. The study also estimates that nearly 35 percent of third-graders in the state have untreated cavities, and it predicts that many of the dental problems facing kids could be mitigated if a small amount of the $106 billion spent on dental care in the U.S. this year were set aside for preventive dentistry.

The full Pew study can be read here.

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