Dental Problems Number One Reason FL Kids Miss School
Posted August 26, 2014 04:55 am
By Stephanie Carson | Public News Service
JACKSONVILLE, FL - Every day thousands of children in Florida arrive at school with dental pain and tooth decay. The Florida Dental Association reminds parents of the importance of a preventive cleaning as school starts.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
estimates that more than 51 million school hours are
lost each year because of dental-related health
problems, making it the number one reason for missed
school. Jacksonville dentist Dr. Richard Stevenson says
tooth pain can be a large roadblock in a child's
success.
"While they're in school if they have that continual
pain, they can't concentrate properly so they can't
perform at a peak level," Stevenson says. "They're not
getting all the benefit of going to school when they're
in pain like that."
According to the American Journal of Public Health,
children who reported having recent tooth pain were four
times more likely to have a low GPA when compared with
children without oral pain. The state of Florida
provides dental services to low-income and special-needs
children up to 18 years of age under Kidcare programs,
which include Medicaid, Healthy Kids, MediKids and
Children's Medical Services.
Stevenson says in spite of the greater prevalence of
fluoride in drinking water, what a child eats and drinks
can have a big impact, even if they have good brushing
habits.
"It's starting to get worse. All the soft drinks,
Gatorade, the high-acidic food, the refined
carbohydrates. It's easier to do that than it is to eat
fruits and vegetables," says Stevenson.
According to the Academy of General Dentistry, tooth
decay is the most preventable disease in children. The
National Institutes of Health report 41-percent of
children, age two to 11, have had a cavity.
Photos/graphics and
links added by the Observer | image:
McCordsville Family Dentistry
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