The newly formed Boulder County Dental Coalition is partnering with the Colorado Dental Association to promote awareness of children's oral health during February, Children's Dental Health Month. Advances in our understanding of how children grow and develop have shown that a child's oral health is an integral part of his/her overall physical health. Tooth decay in children can be painful and adversely affect a child's ability to eat, speech development, school performance, socialization, self-esteem and overall long-term health.
Poor oral health is the No. 1 health-related reason grade school children miss school. Five times more school is missed due to oral health problems than due to asthma. Oral health pain also contributes to poor performance by those in attendance. Low-income children suffer nearly 12 times more lost school time due to poor oral health than do children from higher-income families.
Often the costly emergency room is the first stop for dental treatment. Although dental caries, a transmittable and contagious infection which appears as cavities, is almost 100 percent preventable, it remains the most common chronic disease in children. In Boulder County in 2011, 52 percent of third graders have a history of tooth decay and 21 percent have untreated tooth decay. Greater rates of decay occur in low income and minority children.
Early preventive care beginning before the age of one can help prevent tooth decay in young children. The American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists and the Colorado Dental Association all recommend that all pregnant women see a dentist and that all children see a dentist by the time they are one year old to begin to establish a dental home. The age one dental visit is recommended because children can begin to develop caries as soon as they develop teeth, and early screening and care prevent the development of dental diseases. As of 2011, only 10.8 percent of Boulder County children saw a dentist by the time they were one.
In recent years, oral health has gained prominence in health discussions in Colorado. Colorado's governor has identified oral health as one of the state's 10 Winnable Battles over the next decade; and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) has made achievement of an age one dental visit and regular follow-up care one of its top priorities. The Colorado Cavity Free at Three program, cavityfreeatthree.org, is working to help bring the message of early preventive care to parents, early care and education providers, and medical and dental professionals. Our Boulder County Dental Coalition is also working to bring the Cavity Free at Three message to Boulder County. Our partnership, which includes dental professionals, early childcare and education providers, representatives of the minority community and Boulder County Public Health, is working to raise awareness about the need for early preventive oral care for children among parents, dental and medical professionals, and early care end education providers.
On Feb. 1, a number of Boulder County dentists participated in the Colorado Dental Association sponsored Give Kids a Smile Day and provided treatment free of charge to uninsured children. The following additional events are happening in Boulder County in February:
Feb. 9, the Ed and Ruth Lehman YMCA in Longmont is sponsoring a Give Kids a Smile event from 9 a.m. to noon.
Feb. 16, the Boulder County Dental Coalition is sponsoring two Give Kids a Smile/ Wellness Events,
Boulder, at the Wilderness Early Learning Center from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Lafayette, at the Sister Carmen Community Center from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Give Kids A Smile/ Wellness events will include dental screenings and vouchers for needed dental treatment, vision screening, flu and Tdap shots, and signing eligible children up for Medicaid and CHP+.
If you would like to learn more, have a presentation to your group, or participate in our efforts, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Dennis Lewis, is CEO of Dental Aid and co-chair of the Boulder County Dental Coalition. Greta Maloney is the Health Integration Coordinator, Early Childhood Council of Boulder County.