USA - Indiana is 95% fluoridated: NYSCOF

On Tuesday, Pham, who was in Fort Wayne to ensure the new clinic was running smoothly, explained to one woman why her grandchild’s baby teeth, which had multiple cavities, needed to be fixed.

“If we don’t fix them now, we run into much bigger problems down the road,” he said. “Any fake teeth, any fillings are never as good as the original teeth.” Losing front teeth before age 3 can affect speech. Decay and infection hamper a child’s ability to eat, to concentrate and to learn, he said.

Nationally, only 20 percent to 30 percent of children covered by Medicaid see a dentist yearly. According to an American Dental Association report, only 33 percent of Hoosier children enrolled in Medicaid saw a dentist in 2004, partly because of the lack of Medicaid providers but also because parents and grandparents do not prioritize dental care.