By LORETTA PARK
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
FARMINGTON -- Dental decay is the most common chronic disease among ages 5 to 17, health officials say.
It is five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever, according to a Utah Department of Health report.
That is why having fluoride in the water system and providing sealants for students in Title 1 schools are important, health officials said.
"It's a pretty sad scenario, what the need is and how many children are in pain," said Marcia Rollins, director of Sealants for Smiles, a nonprofit organization.
The program began in 2004 as a United Way initiative and became its own entity in 2007, she said. Last year, 9,500 second- and sixth-graders in Davis, Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties were served.
"We're mainly trying to target the at-risk children who aren't getting any dental care," Rollins said.
About 44 percent of Utah children have unmet dental needs, and many have severe needs, she said.
"What a lot of people don't realize is, the mouth is the entrance to the rest of the body and it affects the health of the body, which affects a student's performance in school," Rollins said.
Last year was the first year Davis County was part of the program, said Sally Kershisnik, director of the Davis County Division of Family Health and Senior Services.
Wasatch Elementary School in Clearfield was one of the participating schools. Most of its 350 students are in low-income families, and "when there is not a lot of money or none, one of the first things to be let go of more than anything else is dental," said Principal Kathy Scott.
Parents cannot afford the preventive care, and by the time a child is complaining of pain, the dental damage can be severe and costly, she said.
In Davis County, 1,764 students in 13 schools were served through Sealants for Smiles, Kershisnik said. Of those, 1,101 were eligible for sealants, which provide a physical barrier to cavity-causing bacteria.
The sealants are put on the first permanent molars, which usually appear when a child is in second grade, and also on the second permanent molars, which appear when a child is in sixth grade.
The molars, which are expected to last an individual's lifetime, have deep grooves, pits and crevices where cavities can begin.
Besides applying sealants to the teeth, dental staff also screened for cavities, Kershisnik said. There were 356 students with untreated cavities and 99 who had urgent dental needs.
"They were in pain and needed immediate care," she said.
The dental staff contacted most of the parents, the majority of whom were able to get their child to a dentist, she said.
The parents either paid for the dental work themselves or from funds provided by Medicare, the Women, Infant and Children's Program or through a grant the county received, she said.
Davis County and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health officials say fluoridated water is also helping to prevent cavities.
Davis County began fluoridating its water systems in 2004. This year's kindergartners are the first group of students entering the school system who've been drinking fluoridated water most of their lives.
Colleen Taylor, a pediatric dentist in Bountiful and chairwoman of the Davis County Health Board, said the fluoride is making a difference.
Fewer of her young patients are coming in with tooth decay than in previous years.
"This is not a scientific study, just what I've seen," she said.
Delayne McGarvey, environmental director of the Davis County Health Department, said the county reduced the required amount of fluoride in the water from 0.8 milligrams per liter of water to 0.7 milligrams per liter of water after the National Dental Association expressed concerns about how fluoride in infant formula may affect babies and toddlers.
Learn more
To contribute or for more information about Sealants for Smiles, go to www.sealantsforsmiles.org.
CDC confirms the topical, from toothpaste or dental treatment, is the ONLY method that works on teeth, NOT ingested. 18 out 20 studies are now proving fluoride lowers IQ in children, thus, ADA's new position on fluoride for infant forumula. National Kidney Foundation withdrew support for fluoridated water due to additional health problems it causes, including death, to kidney patients. About 1800 dental and health officials, etc., worldwide, have signed a professionals petition banning fluoride. The original city of Michigan where it first started is banning it. Read BBC's investigative journalist Christopher Bryson's book on "Fluoride Deception," and follow the proven money trail!
What's really galling? It's not even real "fluoride" from the mineral fluorine out of the ground that they claim they use -- it's man-made chemicals from industrial waste (that's too toxic to dump into natural waters & has to be buried) and manipulated to match the fluorine periodic table elements. Cited lab tests, by public health officials and dentists who're pro-fluoride, have only used the mineral fluorine -- there have been NO lab tests done by their paid, pro-fluoride scientists using the same man-made industrial waste chemicals that we pay them to dump into our drinking water!
True scientists, worldwide, have used the man-made chemicals in their lab tests, and have shown hard-core evidence of multiple health damage to both humans and wildlife/pets that use fluoridated water.
The EPA's entire union of Water Safety Scientists have voted unanimously against fluoridated water, renewing their call for a ban on it in both food and water, but the EPA keeps right on ignoring their own scientists.
No kooks, no scare tactics, just truth. But those who have the "power" to save lives by banning it in Utah's waters are not listening! Follow the money, and/or a "veil of stupidity."
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