Pew’s Children’s Dental Campaign promotes cost-effective policies to expand access to dental care and ensure millions more children receive the basic care they need to grow, learn, and lead healthy lives.
Why Dental Care Matters
Dental care is the greatest unmet need among children. In 2009, more than 16 million low-income children went without care. Tooth decay affects nearly 60 percent of kids. If untreated, the consequences can be painful and disruptive to learning and daily activities. In extreme cases, untreated decay can lead to serious, potentially life-threatening infections.
The Dental Care Policies We Promote
Our research and advocacy efforts focus on four efficient, cost-effective strategies:
- Expanding the number of professionals who can provide high-quality dental care to low-income children;
- Ensuring that Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program work better for kids and for providers so that insurance coverage translates into real care;
- Expanding access to fluoridated water; and
- Increasing sealant programs for kids who need them most.
How We Conduct Our Work
We work with lawmakers; government officials; dental providers; national, state, and local organizations; researchers; and the private sector, targeting states in which policy changes can dramatically improve children’s lives. For example, Pew is working in several states to explore the creation of new types of dental providers—similar to nurse practitioners in the medical field—to work in collaboration with dentists and expand care for underserved kids.
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The LATEST from the Project
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
The Gazette: Iowa Receives 'C' Grade in Dental Health Report
Iowa scores right in the middle in a new report that grades states on preventing tooth decay, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
The Denver Post: More Colorado Kids Need Preventive Dental Care
Colorado, like most states, isn’t doing enough to prevent tooth decay in children, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: State Among 5 With High Grade on Child Dental Sealants
Wisconsin is among the five states in the country with the most extensive programs to place dental sealants - plastic coatings applied to the chewing surface of molars to prevent tooth decay - in children, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
The Times-Picayune: Report Gives Louisiana a 'D' for Quality of Dental Care for Poor Kids
Louisiana got poor marks for the availability of programs to provide crucial dental care to low-income children, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
WLRN Public Radio: Amazing Sealants Defeat Childhood Tooth Decay But Does Florida Care? Study Says 'No'
Florida is missing a cheap and easy bet for improving the dental health of its children, according to a new survey from the Pew Charitable Trusts more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
WFSU Public Radio: Poor Access to Kids' Dental Care Costing Fla. Taxpayers
Florida, along with most U.S. states, is failing to prevent tooth decay in children in a key way, according to a report the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts released on Tuesday. more
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- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Dr. Biscupid: Most U.S. States Fall Short With Dental Sealant Programs
A new report released today by the Pew Center on the States found that 40% of all U.S. states earned either a D or F grade when it comes to providing children with dental sealants, missing a key opportunity to help prevent caries and reduce Medicaid and other health-related costs. more
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- Report
- Children's Dental Campaign
Falling Short
Pew’s 50-state report finds that most states are not doing enough to use a proven strategy for preventing tooth decay, unnecessarily driving up health care costs for families and taxpayers.
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- Press Release
- Children's Dental Campaign
Many States are Missing an Opportunity to Prevent Tooth Decay and Reduce Medicaid and Other Health-related Costs
Most states are not doing enough to use a proven strategy for preventing tooth decay, unnecessarily driving up health care costs for families and taxpayers.
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- Infographic
- Children's Dental Campaign
Most States Lag on Dental Sealants
Dental sealants are clear plastic coatings that prevent tooth decay and take only a few minutes to apply to the chewing surfaces of permanent molars, the most cavity-prone teeth. more
