Mobile dental unit in Floyd Co. will provide oral-health evaluation and treatment; will be free, but can bill insurance for treatment

In an effort to make sure its students have access to dental treatment, the Floyd County School District has partnered with a regional health-care center that will provide dental services at its schools via a mobile dental unit, Mary Meadows reports for the Floyd County Chronicle.

The school board approved the contract with Big Sandy Health Care at its June 26 meeting. Meadows reports that the contract will not cost the district any funds and that Big Sandy Health Care will bill Medicaid or private insurance “where applicable.”

Supt. Henry Webb, who resigned June 30, told the board members that the district had partnered with Big Sandy Health Care for dental services for years, noting that the center had evaluated about 2,000 students each year for dental issues. But he added, "The issue’s always been when they find cavities and things like that, they recommend follow-up, but unfortunately, lots of times that never happens."

The new contract allows dentists in the health center's mobile dental unit to not only evaluate the students, but to also provide treatments, such as fillings and extractions, with consent of parents or guardians.

“I just think it’s a huge step forward,” Webb said. “Unfortunately, we have a lot of dental issues with kids, and I think this will really make a significant difference for the health and well-being of our kids.” (This story is behind a paywall.)

A Delta Dental of Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates study, released in October, found that the oral health of Kentucky's school children is getting worse, even though access to oral health care is better now than it was 15 years ago.

The analysis of third and sixth graders found that two out of five children in the study had untreated cavities and that this problem was "significantly greater" in Appalachian Kentucky, where more than half of the children in the study had untreated cavities.

Study: Ky. kids have more access to oral health care, but still have poor outcomes; 1/2 in Appalachia have untreated cavities

By Melissa Patrick and Traci Thomas
Kentucky Health News

The oral health of Kentucky's school children is getting worse, even though access to oral health care is better now than it was 15 years ago, says a study by Delta Dental of Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates.

The report, "Making Smiles Happen: 2016 Oral Health Study of Kentucky's Youth," is the first oral health study of Kentucky's children since 2001, and was presented to Kentucky lawmakers Wednesday at the Oct. 19 Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare.

"What leaps out in the report are two big issues," said Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates. "One is the paradox that more kids have coverage and yet outcomes are worse and the second is that we have factors that kids can't control -- where they live, the color of their skin, how much money their parents make -- and those are real determinants on the state of kids mouths. None of those are easily solved, but they are challenges that we have to tackle."

Delta Dental of Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates study.
(Lexington Herald-Leader map)

Researchers worked with the University of Louisville's School of Dentistry to analyze the mouths of 3rd and 6th graders across the state. The study also asked parents about family oral health history, resulting in the collection of data for over 2,000 students.

The report had four key findings.

First, it found that more 3rd and 6th graders are in need of early or urgent dental care since 2001, rising to 49 percent in 2016 from 32 percent in 2001. It noted that Hispanic or Latino students are "significantly less likely" to have dental insurance than their peers and that children who live in the Appalachian region have the greatest need for urgent dental care, 20 percent compared to 8 percent overall.

Another key finding was that two out of five 3rd and 6th graders have untreated cavities. This measure was also "significantly greater" in the Appalachian region, where more than half of the children in the study had untreated cavities.

"We know in a very pragmatic way that a person with a toothache is probably not paying attention to their multiplication tables at school, so oral health is a significant issue for children in Kentucky," Brooks said.

And despite a 14 percent increase in the number of 3rd and 6th graders with dental sealants on at least one permanent molar between 2001 and 2016, more than 50 percent of the children in the study didn't have them. African-American children in the study were the most likely to not have any sealants.

It also found the 3rd and 6th graders eligible for free or reduced lunch (more than half of students in the study) were more likely to have recently experienced a toothache, have visited a dentist more than a year ago, have untreated decay or be in need of urgent dental care.

The report points out that "there was no significant differences in the presence of tooth decay by race/ethnicity, giving further evidence that socioeconomic status is in the strongest determinant of a child's oral health status."

Delta Dental President Clifford Maesaka said the report recommends the data be used to make a comprehensive statewide plan and that regional coalitions should be formed to find local solutions. The report also recommends school-based sealant programs, oral health literacy campaigns and points out that the state should continue to gather data.

"We need a plan," Maesaka said. "If we don't recognize the need for preventive and diagnostic care in our kids, we are probably not going to make it a priority." He added, "We need our parents, our school administrators, our legislators, everybody to recognize that the mouth is part of the body and things that go on in the mouth have an effect on the rest of the body and vice-versa." If the message can be conveyed, "We will have a better chance of succeeding."

FDA wants to reduce standard for fluoride in public drinking water

Lowering the amount of fluoride in drinking water, as proposed in January by the Food and Drug Administration, will increase medical expenses and harm the poor and the poorly educated the most, a mother writes in an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

Jane E. Brody delves into the concept of fluoridation, pointing out its benefits. "In the early years, rates of tooth decay among the young dropped by 60 percent in communities that adopted fluoridation," she writes. "Every $1 invested in fluoridation saves approximately $38 in dental treatment costs."

Though fluoride was initially thought to become incorporated into developing teeth, it was later found that its benefit is topical, meaning it works on teeth already formed. "Fluoride, which is present in saliva and concentrates in dental plaque, inhibits the action of acid on tooth minerals," she writes. "It also promotes remineralization by sticking to tooth surfaces, where it attracts calcium ions present in saliva."

Still, there remains controversy about whether or not fluoride is safe, with the substance being accused of causing everything from heart disease to Alzheimer's disease. "None of these supposed risks has ever been established in scientifically valid studies," Brody writes. "The only proven risk, a condition called fluorosis, which results in white and sometimes brownish markings on the teeth from too much fluoride, rarely results from a normal intake of fluoridated water."

Since fluoride is also available in other substances, like toothpaste, the FDA proposed reducing the amount of fluoride in public drinking water to 0.7 milligrams per liter, from a range from 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams. Brody feels the move is a mistake: "Fluoridation confers the greatest benefit to those who need it most: the poor and poorly educated and those with limited access to regular dental care," she writes. "In the years ahead, removal of fluoride from drinking water will almost certainly cost taxpayers millions of dollars in increased Medicaid expenditures." (Read more)

In Kentucky, there is 100 percent fluoridation in public drinking water systems, though perhaps half a million residents get their water from wells, springs or cisterns.