2021_Oral_Health_Report_Card_flipbook

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Kansas scores low on new Oral Health Report CardFebruary 2021Oral Health Kansas is pleased to be able to release a new report card on oral health in Kansas. Ourstate received a grade of ‘C’ as compared to the nation’s performance on 13 key oral healthindicators. The grade shows Kansas is making progress on improving oral health, but we have along way to go to ensure the population of our state is as healthy as possible.Less than half of Kansas kids enrolled in KanCare are receiving preventive dental visits each year,and only one in five children under age two is able to visit the dentist. The general population ofchildren fares better, with 80% of children under the age of 17 visiting the dentist, however nearly50% of third graders have tooth decay. Tooth decay is the number one chronic childhood disease. 1Left untreated, it can be deadly, and it is entirely preventable.About two-thirds of Kansas adults visit the dentist each year. But nearly a third of older adults havelost six or more teeth due to tooth decay. Adults can and should keep their teeth throughout theirlives. When people keep their natural teeth, they can eat healthy foods more easily and maintaintheir confidence. The cost of treating a single decayed tooth over a lifetime can be as much as$6,000. 2 Less than half of pregnant women in Kansas have their teeth cleaned, yet studies showthat a woman’s oral health during her pregnancy can determine the baby’s risk for tooth decay. 3The grades in this report card indicate that in nearly all categories, Kansas has a great deal of roomfor improvement in comparison to national figures. The disadvantage of this grading scale is itsability to hide areas for improvement in positive grades. For example, Kansas received an ‘A’ formeeting 40% of needs in Dental Health Provider Shortage Areas because the national average iscloser to 30%. What the ‘A’ grade does not show is that 60% of dental needs in these providershortage areas in our state are going unmet. This is a clear sign of the need for improvement.The 2021 Kansas Oral Health Report Card should guide our state’s priorities to make the greatestimpact on improving the oral health for all Kansans. For example, Oral Health Kansas currently hasprojects focused on improving access to dental care for people with intellectual and developmentaldisabilities, pregnant women, and young children, as well as many educational programs to teachfamilies the importance of oral health in their overall health. We also continue to work to reducethe number of Dental Health Provider Shortage Areas and increase the number of dental providersenrolling in the Medicaid program. Oral Health Kansas joined with the Kansas Dental Association toadvocate successfully with the Kansas Legislature for a Medicaid dental rate increase in 2019 and2020. This is an important way to increase the number of Medicaid dental providers in the state.Stakeholders in Kansas need to work together to design strategies to ensure all Kansas childrenhave access to timely and routine preventive care and to dental sealants. We also need tocollaborate on policies to increase access to dental care for adults, including routine affordable carefor pregnant women and older Kansans. More work needs to be done to increase the KanCare
dental provider network in rural, urban, and suburban Kansas. A comprehensive dental benefit foradults needs to be included in KanCare in order to ensure more than two-thirds of adults canafford to visit a dentist regularly. Finally, current data needs to be a focus for our state, as some ofthe data points included in this report card are based on the most recent data, which is severalyears old.We invite you to review all thirteen of the oral health indicators on the report card, as they eachhave a story to tell about the oral health of Kansas. Then join us in the fight to improve services,supports, and policies to increase access to optimal oral health for all Kansans.About Oral Health KansasOral Health Kansas is a statewide organization whose mission is to improve oral health in Kansasthrough advocacy, public awareness and education. The organization is dedicated to promoting theimportance of lifelong dental health by shaping policy and educating the public, so Kansans knowthat all mouths matter. Follow us on our website , as well as Facebook and Twitter.1Children’s Dental Health Project http://www.endcavities.org/cavities2Children’s Dental Health Project http://www.endcavities.org/at-stake3Children’s Dental Health Project http://www.endcavities.org/during-pregnancy
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