By Bridget Walsh, Schuyler Center Senior Policy Analyst
As children around New York State settle into a new school year, it’s important to remember that giving children the best opportunity to learn and grow begins with ensuring they are healthy. Often overlooked in back-to-school checkups is oral health, but good oral health helps a child perform well in school and lead a healthy life.
Parents might find this surprising, but tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood illness. It is five times more prevalent than asthma, and potentially every bit as disruptive to a child’s ability to learn. Children who suffer from dental pain have, on average, lower grades than students with healthier teeth. Poor oral health can also impact a child’s speech development, self-image and concentration. Despite the fact that it is largely preventable, oral health challenges remain prevalent in many communities across New York State.
A healthy mouth is part of overall health, and is influenced by many factors. The path to good oral health goes through several “doors.” These doors include:
- Insurance coverage that makes care affordable
- The availability of oral health care providers within a community
- Access to preventative measures like dental sealants or fluoridated water.
Because these “doors” are locked in some areas and to some communities, there are stark racial and ethnic inequities in oral health outcomes. In fact, people of color, Latino people, and Mexican Americans experience nearly twice the amount of untreated tooth decay as their white, non-Latino counterparts. To advance justice in health, policies must provide the keys to good oral health to all.
Strong policies and programs that equitably support children’s oral health require continued advocacy. As children learn the routines of a new school year, Schuyler Center is advocating for public policies that provide the keys to good oral health for all communities, so all children are healthy and ready to learn.
We are proud to co-sponsor the upcoming Early Childhood Oral Health Summit with the Early Childhood Advisory Council, with the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council, NYS Department of Health, NYS Council on Children and Families and NYS Head Start Collaboration Office. The free, one-day event will be held in Albany on Monday, November 14. The Summit will showcase best practices on preventing and treating oral disease in children and develop a shared policy agenda that will allow us to work across sectors to improve children’s oral health. Please register to join us.
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