Contact: John Lyon
Email: jlyon@achi.net
Tooth decay remains one of the most prevalent chronic childhood illnesses in the United States, with about one out of every five children aged 5 to 11 years and one out of seven children aged 12 to 19 years having at least one untreated decayed tooth. While the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends that all children have biannual dental examinations, many children in Arkansas do not receive adequate dental care, even with dental insurance coverage. Among adults in the state, 38% reported the condition of their mouth and teeth as fair or poor, and only 57% reported having a dental visit in 2020. Oral disease can cause significant problems such as loss of tooth structure and function, pain, anxiety, and embarrassment, all of which can greatly affect an individual’s quality of life and overall health.
As Arkansas’s healthcare delivery system faces the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the downstream impacts to oral health can be better understood through analyses of COVID-19-era dental care utilization rates. This report includes trend information throughout 2019 and 2020 by type of dental treatments, age, and payer type, and displays utilization impacts as a result of the unprecedented near-total pause in dental care provision during the onset of the pandemic in Arkansas.