People living in Appalachian counties in Ohio are more likely to have dental problems than people in the rest of the state, and some local officials say access to care is the cause.
“Being in this area, tooth decay is and always will be a problem. There are a lot of low-income families who don’t have access to dental care,” said Jean Spiers, dental hygienist with the Athens City-County School Dental Sealant Program.
“The dental sealant program is a grant program that has dentists and dental hygienists go to local qualifying schools to place sealants on children’s teeth,” Spiers said.
Dental care is the most common unmet health concern for 157,400 children in Ohio, and 19 percent are in need of early or urgent dental care, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.
The statistics are worse for children living in Appalachian areas, with 27 percent of children needing early or urgent care.
About 27 percent of third graders living in Appalachian Ohio have untreated cavities. Third graders living in metropolitan or suburban areas are less likely, with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively, according to the health department.
"For a school to qualify for the Athens sealant program, 40 percent of the students must be eligible for Ohio’s Free and Reduced Price Meals Program,“ Spiers said. “We go to all but two schools in the county.”
“The sealants stop food and bacteria from entering grooves in the teeth where decay is most likely to occur,” Spiers said. The program applies sealants for second, third, sixth and seventh graders.
More than 11 percent of children in Athens County have never seen a dentist and more than 12 percent of 18- to 64-year-olds have unmet dental needs, according to the health department.
Being uninsured is another problem for Athens residents in terms of getting dental care.
“People would like to go to the dentist but they can’t afford it,” said Nick Claussen, spokesman for Athens County Job and Family Services.
Claussen said that he sees a lot of residents who don’t have dental insurance or health insurance of any kind.
More than 40 percent of the Athens County residents don’t have health insurance, according to the health department.
“It is good that Medicaid covers (dentist visits) but the problem is not a lot of people qualify for Medicaid,” Claussen said. “More than 11,800 Athens County residents are enrolled in Medicaid and more than 8,400 are enrolled in Medicare.”
However, more than 7,000 residents are uninsured.
Spiers said that a limited number of dentists adds to the problem of poor dental health in the area. On average, in Ohio there is one dentist for every 1,874 people; in the county there is only one dentist for every 3,138 people, according to the Ohio Health Department.
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