USA - New report shows across-the-board dental improvements

New report shows across-the-board dental improvements for Oregon kids

Print

By Brad Schmidt, The Oregonian 

Portland voters will decide May 21 whether to fluoridate drinking water. Now there's a new state report showing improvement from five years ago.The Oregonian

Oregon children made across-the-board improvements in every major dental health category between 2007 and 2012, according to a long-awaited state report released to The Oregonian in draft form Wednesday.

Rates for kids with cavities, untreated decay and rampant tooth decay all dropped significantly from 2007, when state health officials proclaimed that Oregon's oral health was "headed in the wrong direction."

But Bruce Gutelius, deputy state epidemiologist, wasn't willing to make such sweeping assessments Wednesday in the face of better numbers for 2012.

"We have encouraging improvement," he said, "but we have lots of work to do."

The new information is sure to ignite the already heated campaign over fluoridating Portland's drinking water. Fluoride proponents have cited Oregon's 2007 survey as evidence of a "dental health crisis" while opponents argue that alternatives could instead benefit at-risk children. Votes will be tallied May 21.

Originally, state officials expected to release their 2012 "Smile Survey" by February. But as recently as last week, the Oregon Health Authority warned that it might not be available until after the election.

However, officials on Wednesday released a draft report in response to a public records request filed April 18 by The Oregonian. Gutelius now says the final version should be available later this week.

"We know it's going to be helpful to people to have this information in front of them to make decisions," Gutelius said.

The new survey includes numerous health measures for children in first, second and third grades. Nearly every statistic showed marked improvement from 2007.

The percentage of children who already had a cavity fell from 64 to 52 statewide, according to the survey. That represents a drop of nearly one-fifth.

The percentage of children with untreated decay also declined from 36 to 20 statewide, the survey found. That's down by nearly half.

And the other major measure, rampant decay -- which is defined as seven treated or untreated cavities -- fell from 20 percent to 14 percent statewide. That's down by about one-third.

For just Multnomah County, the percentage of children who already had a cavity dropped from 56 to 51, according to the survey. That's down by about one-tenth, roughly half the decline experienced statewide.

And for kids in Multnomah County with untreated decay, the percentages fell from 25 to 21. The drop is about half of what was seen statewide............