West Virginia 47th in Dentist Visits

By Eric Eyre
Published in The Charleston Gazette, December 31, 2007

West Virginia has one of the lowest percentages of adults who go to a dentist.

Only three states — Oklahoma, Mississippi and Arkansas — had fewer people who reported that they went to a dentist’s office last year, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Dentists and oral health advocates say that people who visit a dentist are more likely to have good dental hygiene.

The CDC’s data show that 61.4 percent of West Virginians 18 and older went to a dentist last year, down from 62.5 percent in 2004.

“It goes back to education and a cultural thing,” said Richard Stevens, executive director of the West Virginia Dental Association. “Most people aren’t well-informed about the importance of oral health care. A lot of people have resigned themselves that they’ll just wind up with dentures when they get older.”

State oral health advocates said West Virginia’s “backslide” also raises concerns about the future of children’s dental health. Parents who go to a dentist are more likely to take their kids to one.

“Parents are the ones who make the appointments,” said Gina Sharps, co-director of West Virginia University’s Oral Health Project. “It’s amazing that we have people with dental coverage who are not using it. People are still not getting the message.”

Among West Virginia’s poorest residents — those who make less than $15,000 a year — only one of every three people saw a dentist.

Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of West Virginia’s highest wage earners — making more than $50,000 a year — went to a dentist at least once last year.

West Virginia women were more likely to go in for a check-up than men. Nearly 64 percent of women visited a dentist last year, while 59 percent of men did, according to the CDC.

Connecticut and Rhode Island had the highest dental visitation rates with about 80 percent reporting they went to a dentist.

The national average was 70.3 percent — the same as in 2004.

West Virginia lawmakers plan to consider recommendations to improve the state’s oral health in the upcoming legislative session, which starts Jan. 9.

West Virginia leads the nation in the percentage of adults who have had at least one permanent tooth pulled because of infection or decay, as well as the percentage of adults 65 and older with no teeth.