Some good, bad news for Nevada children

Cy Ryan and Emily Richmond

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Children in Clark County have the highest rate of tooth decay in the state, a survey released earlier this week showed.

And Nevada had the worst record among eight states that did similar surveys of the dental health of children.

"This is disturbing but not unmanageable," said Dr. Michael Sanders, the state's dental health consultant. Sanders, chairman of the Community Coalition for Oral Health in Clark County, said that programs are being prepared to "aggressively attack the problem."

A survey of 2,473 third graders statewide found 67 percent of them had a history of dental decay, said Christine Forsch, oral health consultant for the state health division.

The survey showed 39 percent had decay that hadn't been treated.

In Clark County 68.2 percent of third graders had a history of tooth decay and 41 percent had decay that was never treated, according to the survey, which was conducted in February.

The untreated rate of tooth decay in children was 34 percent in both Washoe and rural Nevada, according to the survey. The report said 63 percent of the children in Washoe County and 67 percent in rural Nevada had a history of tooth decay.

Having a history of decay means the children had not been treated for the problem.

The poor showing in the survey was no surprise, said state Sen. Ray Rawson, a dentist for 30 years and the main reason the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, added a dental school in recent years.

"We knew that a third of our population does not have access to regular dental care. So much of our population is new and low income, and that makes the problem worse," Rawson said.

"But (state government and dental advocates) are heavily involved in trying to change the situation," he added. "There's a very good dental coalition that has come together with residency programs, the new dental school, a state dental health officer and within five years we should have a totally different picture in Nevada.

Sanders said it was a "real challenge" to determine why Clark County children have poorer dental health than the rest of the state.

"It's very clear that children are a reflection of parents," he said. "The dental IQ is not where it should be."

He said many parents are not familiar with ways to prevent tooth decay.

The population of Southern Nevada is fluid, he said; many people move in and many move out. And 23 percent of the population is Hispanic, and many of them speak only limited English. A Census Bureau report in February noted Spanish was the predominant language in an estimated 18 percent of the homes in Clark County.

Sanders said an educational program on dental health is being pushed both in English and Spanish.

Forsch said a person cannot attain a complete state of good health without good oral health. She said new research continues to reveal associations between chronic dental disease and heart and lung diseases, low birth-weights and diabetes.

In 1999 fluoride was put in the water supply in Southern Nevada to help prevent tooth decay. Voters in 2000 voted to retain the fluoridated water. Sanders said it takes time to show results. The decay in the teeth of the third graders may have already started by the time they started drinking fluoridated water.

The survey also indicated that only 24 percent of the Clark County children in the study had dental sealant, compared to 55 percent in Washoe County. That was the lowest percentage in the study. Dental sealant is a plastic that dentists bond into the grooves of the chewing surfaces of teeth to prevent cavities.

Statewide, Forsch said, 41 percent of the white children surveyed had dental sealant compared with 19 percent of black children and 25 percent of Hispanic children.

The difference between Clark and Washoe can be attributed to a mobile van operated by St. Mary's Hospitals that goes around Washoe putting sealant on children's teeth, Forsch said.

The St. Mary's program, Seal Nevada, is being expanded into Clark County beginning in February, said Sherry Peterson, course director for community dental health at the Community College of Southern Nevada, which is assisting with the project.

Dental hygiene students from the community college program will help out with education programs at schools identified by the district as being high-risk, Peterson said. And with parental approval, students will be able to have their teeth sealed, Peterson said.

Sally Jost, assistant director and chief nurse for the Clark County School District's health services, said the poor state of oral health among students has been an ongoing issue. Project Smile, which began about seven years ago as a joint endeavor with the Clark County Public Education Foundation, focuses on helping students facing dental emergencies or acute pain due to abscesses or infections, Jost said. The district now operates the program with help from a handful of private foundation grants.

Miles for Smiles, a private, nonprofit organization, also provides dental care to district students, Jost said. Before a visit from the Miles for Smiles mobile treatment van, school nurses screen students at high-risk schools and prioritize those with the most pressing problems.

Seal Nevada will focus more on preventative care, Jost said.

"It's one thing to try and repair teeth in an emergency, but good oral hygiene is the long-term key," Jost said. "This is going to be an extremely valuable resource for our students."