New Hampshire and Maine are tops in the nation for policies that prevent tooth decay in children, according to a national study by an independent group.
The Pew Center on the States released a report Tuesday that said most states are not doing enough to prevent tooth decay in children, driving up health care costs. New Hampshire was among the five states that received an A and was one of only two states, including Maine, to receive perfect marks.
The report, “Falling Short: Most States Lag on Dental Sealants,” graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their efforts to prevent decay by improving access to sealants for low-income children. More than 20 states and the District of Columbia received a D or a failing grade for their programs to provide children with dental sealants.
States were graded based on four indicators that should be a key part of any state’s prevention strategy: having sealant programs in high-need schools; allowing hygienists to place sealants in school-based programs without requiring a dentist’s exam; collecting data regularly about the dental health of schoolchildren and submitting it to a national database managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors; and meeting a national objective on sealants set by the federal government’s Healthy People 2010 goals.
Pew’s assessment reflects the states’ policies that existed as of July 1, 2012.
Sealants are a clear coating typically first applied to children’s molars when they are in the second grade, shortly after their permanent teeth appear. Molars are the most cavity-prone teeth, and sealants act as a barrier against decay-causing bacteria.![]()
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