KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — According to the CDC, more than half of children aged six to eight have had a cavity in at least one of their baby teeth. And in East Tennessee, health experts are seeing a growing need for oral care in children.
The Knox County Health Department, or KCHD, offers free dental education, supplies and screenings to Title I-eligible schools.
"We're looking first to see how overall the health is the the mouth is whether they have good oral hygiene at home," said Megan Jacks, a registered dental hygienist at KCHD. "If their gums are kind of swollen. If they have early decay or cavities, if they're in dental pain, those types of things."
Sarah Naill, a dental hygienist at the health department says in her 19 years with the program, teeth problems are getting worse.
"Infection, rapid decay, broken teeth pain, those would categorize an urgent need," said Naill. "That used to be in the percentage rate of around 3 to 6% and now as of last school year, it's 15%."
And poor dental hygiene isn't the only problem found in Knox County.
"In East Tennessee, we have a really low number of providers for dental in comparison to the rest of the state," said Jacks. "So there's that barrier. So limited providers. The second would be, you know, transportation, not everybody is able to come to a dental appointment."
An Anderson County elementary school nurse said she has students come in and complain about tooth pain.
She said this can lead to them being distracted at school.
"We've had kids that have had a toothache at school and that impacts it all too," said Krystal Gulley, the school nurse at Norwood Elementary. "If they're not eating, they're not able to, you know, get the nutrition they need, they can't focus in class, they don't feel good. They're not going to learn well."
But there are things parents can do at home to help their kids with dental hygiene, including help brushing their teeth and flossing.
"Every child really needs to be going to the dentist by age one," said Naill. "We would like to see children getting their teeth cleaned every six months. Routine checkups with dental x-rays and exams are very important to help keep teeth healthy. Up until about eight or nine years of age and a good rule of thumb, if a child can cut their own chicken or steak when they're eating, they probably have good dexterity to be able to brush their own teeth if they can tie their shoe, that's another measuring point with no problem. Their dexterity in their hands is gonna be good enough to help them be able to brush and floss their teeth so we like parents to help with daily oral hygiene up until about that age."
The Knox County Health Department wants to learn more about children's dental health through a survey. The survey closes on September 6.