Yesterday I was shocked by the estimated 2,000 desperate people who waited in the frigid rain outside the Convention Center for free dental care. Today I’m looking up Oregon’s very depressing oral health stats at the Center for Disease Control.

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Time for a soul-crushing quiz!

1) What percent of Oregonians age 65 or older have lost every single one of their teeth?

2) What percent of Oregon third-graders have had a cavity in one of their adult teeth?

3) What percent of Oregon third-graders don’t have dental insurance coverage?

4) Portland doesn’t add fluoride to its water. What percent of the country does?

Answers below the cut!

1) According to the CDC, an astounding 16 percent of older Oregonians don’t have any teeth. That’s actually down from 20.9% in 1999 and ranks us 16th nationally—Hawaii is best off with only 9.6 percent of its citizens 65+ having no teeth and West Virginia stays true to stereotype with a whopping 36.7% of its seniors living toothlessly.

2) The 2007 Healthy Smiles survey showed that 64 percent of third graders had at least one cavity.

3) That same survey found that 25 percent, or 30,000 school kids, had no dental coverage. Oregon Healthy Kids covers all the dental needs of uninsured Oregon children. But that “uninsured” requirement actually creates a significant gap in coverage: kids who have medical insurance, but not dental, don’t qualify for the public program.

4) The CDC says about 60 percent of citizens nationally live in water districts that add fluoride to the water as an inexpensive (but controversial) way to strengthen teeth.

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

9 replies on “Who Knew Teeth Were So Depressing?”

  1. I don’t have a dental plan, and I’m happy I’m not drinking fluoride. There seems to be serious debate about it’s effectiveness and side effects. I brush, and rarely eat anything sweet and I’m doing fine. My dad likes to tell me his dad only went to a dentist once in his life, and it was because he broke his tooth. He died with all his teeth in his mouth. Eating less fructose and other refined sugars, brushing, and using medical grade hydrogen peroxide to rinse is what I do.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluorid…

  2. Fluoride is a toxic combination of chemical waste products. What they put in the water supply is not medical grade, and does not help teeth in any way. The first wide spread use of sodium fluoride was in the nazi concentration camps to make people more docile. Portland does fluoridate 20%, we need to completely eradicate any of this toxic waste from our water!

  3. @spindles

    when to Portland start adding fluoride to our water? I’ve read within the last year that Portland is one of the last cities in the US that doesn’t.

  6. D’uh, fudged my stats. I admit my fuck-ups. So, Oregon is only 20% fluoridated, Portland is not at all. But in 2007 the legislature tried to pass HB 3099 which would mandate all city’s in Oregon with a populaton over 10,000 must be fluoridated. It was narrowly defeated. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

  8. Fluoridation is Bad Medicine

    West Virginia which is 92% fluoridated, 38% have lost all their teeth

    31% lost all their teeth in Tennessee which is 94% fluoridated

    Alabama is 83% fluoridated, Yet 26% have lost all their teeth.

    Fluoridation isn’t the panacea you’ve been lead to believe it is

    There are dental crises in every fluoridated town, city and state See http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com

  9. The only serious debate on water fluoridation is in the mistaken minds of those who oppose it (like NYCOF).

    There are over 5,800 references to water fluoridation in the National Library of Medicine’s database ( http://www.pubmed.org ). Just last month another peer-reviewed study showed that swallowed fluoridated water in childhood saves teeth as adults.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2072467…

    The Fluoride Action Network and their buds on the net make it difficult find the truth. The Centers for Disease Control website can give readers a sense of the overwhelming scientific consensus in this matter.

    Water fluoridation is a very important element in improving the entire community’s oral health. It is especially important to poor kids. Oregonians should get the current situation of no fluoride in Portland’s water changed.

    Picker22

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