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After decades of steadily
declining cavity rates in the U.S., many dentists are
alarmed by recent reports suggesting that the trend
might be reversing.
Following a report in The Wall
Street Journal that cited anecdotal evidence for
"an alarming rise in cavities among children and
teens," researchers in the state of Washington
released an analysis of 150,000 dental insurance claims
for children younger than seven to see if the anecdotes
were true. The Washington report found that more
children needed fillings in 2001 than did in 1998, but
that children who required fillings needed fewer than
they have in the past.
"This seems to suggest that,
while more kids are getting at least one cavity, they're
not as prone to severe decay in several teeth,"
explained Max Anderson, DDS, an oral health adviser for
Delta Dental Plans Association and contributor to the
Washington analysis.
While the Washington observations
might signal a trend, it's impossible to conclude that
there has been a general reversal of the long-running
decline in cavity rates. In fact, an article in a recent
edition of the Journal of the American Dental
Association noted that since 1970 tooth decay rates for
people age 18 to 45 dropped by 27 percent. Decay rates
for people ages 46 to 65 remained the same, indicating
that, if the battle against cavities isn't yet won, it
also isn't taking a turn for the worse.
Community water fluoridation and
advances in dental care have been credited with driving
cavity rates down for a number of years. An increase in
the availability of employer-sponsored dental benefits
has also been a major factor. People with dental
insurance visit the dentist almost twice as often as
people without coverage, which is significant when you
consider that only six percent of Americans had private
dental insurance in 1970, while nearly half are covered
by employer-sponsored dental insurance today.
"Despite these advances,
cavities have not been eradicated and won't be in the
near future," Dr. Anderson said. "It's as
important as ever to brush and floss, choose nutritious
food and drinks, get enough fluoride and go to dentists
for checkups.
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