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.
featured
Subscribe to The Latest from the Project
The LATEST from the Project
-
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Kids Brush Up on Oral Health at Area Schools
A recent national report shows the number of ER visits for dental problems increased 16 percent from 2006 to 2009. The report, conducted by the Pew Center on the States, indicates the trend could be continuing.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
More Americans Heading to E.R. for Dental Care: Report
Lacking access to regular care from a dentist, an estimated 830,590 Americans sought help for their dental ailments in the E.R. in 2009, according to a report released yesterday from the Pew Center on the States.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
More Americans Are Using the ER Instead of a Dentist's Office
More Americans are turning to the emergency room for routine dental problems — a choice that often costs 10 times more than preventive care and offers far fewer treatment options than a dentist’s office, according to an analysis of government data and dental research.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Dental Visits to ERs Are on the Rise
02 28 2012 Americans who turn up in the emergency room to get dental care aren't lost, they're probably just running out of options. According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Dental Problems Showing Up as Emergencies
A study being released today by the Pew Foundation found that 83,000 emergency department visits in California in 2007 were due to preventable dental problems. That rate of dental emergencies is likely growing quickly.
more -
- Report
- Children's Dental Campaign
A Costly Dental Destination
Already stressed state budgets are shouldering an extra burden to cover expensive emergency room (ER) treatment for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments, according to a report by the Pew Center on the States.
more -
- Press Release
- Children's Dental Campaign
More Americans Turning to Costly Hospital Care For Preventable Dental Problems
Already stressed state budgets are shouldering an extra burden to cover expensive emergency room (ER) treatment for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments, according to a new report by the Pew Center on the States. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Dentists to Work Just for the Smiles
The cost of dental care can be a barrier for many families, but so can timing, said Linda Meyers, a dental hygienist who is the coordinator of the I-Smile dental health initiative for Pottawattamie and Mills Counties in Iowa.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
5 Years After Boy Dies From Toothache, Maryland Medicaid Dental Care is on Mend
Maryland’s Medicaid dental care program came under fire after a Prince George’s County boy died from an untreated tooth infection that spread lethal bacteria to his brain. Five years later, the same system that failed 12-year-old Deamonte Driver is now touted as one of the best in the nation.
more -
- Media Coverage
- Children's Dental Campaign
Building a Business With Unwanted Customers
Nationally, dentists shy away from treating Medicaid patients. Many complain that this patient population has a far higher no-show rate than patients with private insurance, according to a May 2011 report called "The State of Children's Dental Health" from the Pew Center on the States. Medicaid compensation often falls woefully short of the cost of care: 33 states reimbursed under 60.5 cents for every dollar a dentist charged, according to the Pew study.
more
