Dental disease an epidemic for Sonoma County's low-income kids

<p>At her first dental checkup, 3-year-old Iran Garnica got good news — she has no cavities.</p><p>But the results were not so great for 3-year-old Lucky Singh, another local toddler examined at the St. Joseph Dental Clinic in southwest Santa Rosa.</p><p>Sixteen of Lucky's 20 teeth have cavities and the setting for his treatment likely will be a hospital surgery room, not a dentist's office.</p><p>Lucky and Iran were among children examined at clinics across the county on Friday and Saturday, part of a campaign called Give Kids a Smile.</p><p>Dr. Cheryl Willett, the pediatric dental director at the St. Joseph clinic, said a third of the 59 children examined had cavities.</p><p>“That's actually on the lower side compared to what we usually see,” Willett said. Of the 29 kids with cavities, 14 had to be referred for hospital dentistry.</p><p>Willett said such statistics are heartbreaking. In some cases, she said, low-income parents view cavities and gum disease as a natural part of life, when in fact dental disease is preventable.</p><p>Those discouraging findings were reflected in a survey of oral health needs among elementary school children in Sonoma County conducted last spring.</p><p>It involved oral health screenings of both kindergartners and third-graders at 15 randomly selected schools. The sample size was large enough to draw statistical conclusions for the entire county.</p><p>Among the key findings were:</p><p>Dental disease is an epidemic among the county's children, with an estimated 2,800 local children suffering from advanced dental disease.</p><p>Low-income and minority children are much more likely to have tooth decay and suffer the consequences of untreated disease.</p><p>Most children do not have dental sealants, a clinical intervention to prevent tooth decay on molar teeth.</p><p>The study, known as the Sonoma County Smile Survey, was a project of the Sonoma Health Alliance and was conducted by Community Action Partnership.</p><p>The oral health campaign over the weekend involved volunteers from Community Action Partnership, registered dental assistants from private practice, local dental students and volunteers from Pediatric Dental Initiative, the Redwood Empire Dental Society and the Sonoma County Oral Health Access Coalition.</p><p>Walk-in checkups were provided Saturday at the Santa Rosa Junior College Dental Clinic. All the appointments have been filled for another clinic scheduled next Saturday.</p><p>Promoting dental care in Sonoma County is all the more crucial given the lack of fluoridated water, said Marie Ibanez, co-founder of Sonoma County Oral Health Access Coalition and assistant director of health for CAP.</p><p>“Fluoride is the number one means of preventing dental disease, so we're forced to institute other measures of prevention,” she said.</p><p>These measures include “community-wide education, free dental access days and targeted outreach to change public policy around children's public health,” Ibanez said.</p><p>Willett, the St. Joseph Dental Clinic director, said the message of early prevention is crucial. Two years ago, the clinic started a dental health program called “Mommy & Me” as a way to promote good oral health care among pregnant women and their children.</p><p>“With a healthy diet, good oral hygiene and really regular visits to your dentist beginning at age one, you can prevent cavities,” she said.</p><p>Friday's dental clinics also were held at Sonoma County Indian Health Project, the Petaluma Health Center dental clinic. Russian River Dental Clinic in Guerneville and Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg.</p><p>Participants included Dr. Jamie Sahouria, a private pediatric dentist in Rohnert Park. Next Saturday, Dr. Marc Alexander, a Healdsburg dentist and Dr. Frank Hodges, a Santa Rosa pediatric dentist, will donate their time for the campaign.</p>