Oral health poses a significant public health concern across the US and worldwide. Despite advancements in dental care and oral hygiene practices, disparities persist across regions and populations. Families and communities lack access to dental services and oral health literacy, leading to untreated oral diseases such as tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancers. Evidence of the associations between oral health and a number of systemic diseases are well-documented – diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, cancers, and many others. Here we share statistics that provide a snapshot of the status of national and global oral health..
Global
3.5 billion people are affected by oral diseases across the globe…
Untreated dental caries affects 2.5 billion people
Severe periodontal disease affects 1 billion people
Complete tooth loss affects 350 million people
Oral cancer affects 380,000 people
(World Health Organization, 2022)
Youth & Children
More than half of children aged 6 to 8 have had a cavity in at least one of their baby (primary) teeth.
More than half of adolescents aged 12 to 19 have had a cavity in at least one of their permanent teeth.
On average, over 34 million school hours are lost in the United States each year because of unplanned urgent dental care.
Children aged 5 to 19 years from low-income families are twice as likely (25%) to have cavities, compared with children from higher-income households (11%).
Adults & Seniors
More than 1 in 4 (26%) adults in the United States have untreated tooth decay.
Adults who are low-income, have less than a high school education, non-Hispanic Black, and current smokers are 2 times more likely to have untreated cavities than comparison groups.
Nearly half (46%) of all adults aged 30 years or older show signs of gum disease; severe gum disease affects about 9% of adults.
People with chronic diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease, are more likely to develop gum disease, but they are less likely to get dental care than adults without these chronic conditions.
Nearly all adults (96%) aged 65 years or older have had a cavity; 1 in 5 have untreated tooth decay.
About 2 in 3 (68%) adults aged 65 years or older have gum disease.
Nearly 1 in 5 of adults aged 65 or older have lost all of their teeth.
Medicare & Medicaid
Nearly half of all people with Medicare (47%) did not have dental coverage, as of 2019. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2021)
Medicaid programs are not required to provide dental benefits to adult enrollees, so dental coverage varies widely from state to state. Currently, 15 states provide no coverage or only emergency coverage. (Center for Healthcare Strategies, 2019)
For children ages 0-18, 53% have private dental benefits, 38% have dental benefits through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and 9% do not have dental benefits.(American Dental Association, 2023)
For adults ages 19-64, 61.4% have private dental benefits, 15.7% have dental benefits through Medicaid, and 22.8% do not have dental benefits. (American Dental Association, 2023)
BIPOC
For children aged 2 to 5 years, about 33% of Mexican American and 28% of non-Hispanic Black children have had cavities in their primary teeth, compared with 18% of non-Hispanic White children.
For children aged 12 to 19, nearly 70% of Mexican American children have had cavities in their permanent teeth, compared with 54% of non-Hispanic White children.
Among working-age US adults, over 40% of low-income and non-Hispanic Black adults have untreated tooth decay. Nearly twice as many non-Hispanic Black or Mexican American adults have untreated cavities as non-Hispanic White adults.
More than 9 in 10 older adults have had cavities, and 1 in 6 have untreated cavities. Older non-Hispanic Black or Mexican American adults have 2 to 3 times the rate of untreated cavities as older non-Hispanic White adults.