Young children are often taught to put baby teeth they've lost under their pillows for the Tooth Fairy.
If those teeth could speak, they might have some truths to tell. Namely: higher levels of decay on teeth left by kids from low-income families or children of color.
According to the 2010 King County Smile Survey, children whose first language is not English and those considered low-income experienced discouraging rates of dental disease and decay. (Students who receive free or reduced lunch at school are viewed as low-income.) The survey, involving some 4,000 students, from preschool to 3rd grade, showed:
20 percent of children of color and 23 percent of those whose primary language is not English experienced tooth decay or disease, while only 11 percent of white/non-Hispanic children did
57 percent of elementary school students who qualified for free or reduced lunch had experienced tooth decay or disease, while only 29 percent of those who weren't eligible for free lunch suffered decay
At the elementary school level, 59 percent of Latino students, and 45 percent of black and Asian students suffered decay
Yet even with those numbers, students in King County, on the whole, fared better than their classmates across the state. Statewide, 51 percent of elementary school students had no tooth decay; in King County, 60 percent claimed similar dental health. Dental health is viewed as important for young people because it affects a child's ability to eat, sleep and learn.
According to Moffett Burgess, chief of dental services for Public Health, children lose baby teeth between the ages of 6 and 11. During that age range, children's mouths can be a combination of baby and permanent teeth. "Kids who have cavities on their baby teeth are very, very likely to have cavities on their permanent teeth," Burgess said.
Dental screenings for children were conducted on site, at schools, which provided a challenge. Because diagnostic tools such as X-rays could not be used, the dental professionals involved had to rely upon visual inspection. This type of screening, the survey notes, often underreports dental disease.
The report does hint at solutions. At the top of the list is dental sealants, which are "protective coatings applied to the grooves and pits of permanent molars," areas most vulnerable to decay. Some local schools have dental-sealant programs that aim to help low-income and/or minority students, programs the survey team applauded. Also praised was the use of fluoridated water in communities.
But the disparities highlighted a larger social issue, one that even the Tooth Fairy, wand in hand, can't make disappear: poverty. While many of the statistics break down along racial lines, race may not be the largest indicator of childhood cavities and tooth decay. "Most health issues," Burgess agreed, "follow poverty lines."