Hawaii low-income kid dental care criticised

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Hawaii has been told that its dental provision for children from low-income families is sub-standard.

Pew, which graded all the states on their dental provision for poor youngsters, gave the Hawaii government an F for its oral health policies.

Craig Mason, president of Hawaii Dental Association (HDA), said that local dentists were unhappy with the findings but were not surprised by them.

Hawaii received the F because areas of the island don’t have fluoridated drinking water and there is no system currently in place which monitors each child’s oral health.

It also has very few preventative care strategies and no program for the application of sealants in schools where 25% of pupils are from low-income families.

The recession damaged dental care on the island as well. The state had to cut funding for its dental hygienist branch, meaning that 13 hygienists who worked in schools lost their jobs.

However, HDA claimed that despite the lack of cheap accessible dental programs private dentistry in the state was providing many children with the care that they need.

Hawaii also has recently received a community service license which will bring around 40 dentists to underserved areas.

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