AGD responds

CHICAGO, Illinois--The Pew Children’s Dental Campaign released May 24, 2011, a new report, “The State of Children’s Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter.”

To read more about the AGD, go to AGD.

This report is a follow-up to Pew’s 2010, 50-state report card, which graded each state on its policies and procedures concerning children’s dental health.

The new report causes increasing concern for the Academy of General Dentistry, which originally spoke out against the Pew grading criteria in 2010. The AGD noted the grading process is based upon general benchmarks and not the actual improvement of children’s dental health. Additionally, the Pew system does not fully acknowledge state-specific criteria or grading systems that are created within the states that Pew is ranking.

In its 2010 report, Pew gave 35 states grades of C, D, or F, based on a review of each state on the following eight criteria:

* Sealant programs in place in at least 25% of high-risk schools
* Hygienist examination of children in school sealant programs without prior dentist visit
* Fluoridated water to at least 75% of citizens on community systems
* Percentage of children under 18 on Medicaid receiving dental services
* Medicaid rates as a percentage of dentists’ median retail fees
* Medicaid reimbursement of medical care providers for preventive dental health services
* Establishment of a new primary care dental provider
* State submission of screening data to the National Oral Health Surveillance System database.

The 2011 report shows similar state results based on the above criteria. Though Pew awarded 22 states with a higher grade than in 2010, 23 states did not improve their scores, and two new states received F grades.

The AGD has been a strong champion of promoting sealant programs, water fluoridation, early childhood dental visits, and improvements to Medicaid coverage and reimbursement of dental services. However, establishment of a new primary care dental provider lacks any proven correlation to the improvement of children’s health.

“The AGD again urges Pew and its partners to focus instead on oral health literacy initiatives to improve utilization,” said AGD President Fares Elias, DDS, JD, FAGD. “Also, creating better social services for patients and providing dentists to work in underserved areas will address these access issues.”

Pew’s 2011 report is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the DentaQuest Foundation.

For more information, go to www.agd.org.

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