Ohio Dept. Health finds 55% of schoolchildren experience tooth decay by 3rd grade

The Ohio Department of Health has released a new report on oral health among schoolchildren (PDF download of "Make Your Smile Count! A Survey of the Oral Health of Ohio Schoolchildren, 2004-2005"). The survey was conducted during the 2004-05 school year at 374 randomly selected Ohio public elementary schools and involved 14,029 third-grade students, each of whom received an oral health screening by trained dentists and dental hygienists. Among the report findings are that 55% of children experienced tooth decay by third grade, while more than one-quarter of surveyed children had cavities that had not been treated and 10 percent suffered from a toothache during the previous six months.

The survey also found that 25% of the children had cavities or other dental problems that required they see a dentist. While most children had reportedly visited a dentist during the past year, 22% had not. The most common reasons given for not receiving dental care were that the family couldn't afford it or because the family didn't have dental insurance.

According to the report, the findings from this survey were consistent with findings from a previous survey of schoolchildren conducted in 1998-99, and show that Ohio is falling short of national targets for oral health. The report also features county level data on children's oral health.