ADA News
ADA commends tribal caries initiative to Congress
Washington—Commending one tribe’s initiative for caries-free children entering school, the Association asked Congress April 15 to extend it to all Native American children under age 5.
Testimony: Dr. Mark Walker, chair of the ADA Council on Government Affairs, testifies April 15 before a House appropriations subcommittee discussing oral health issues of Native American children. Dentist/Rep. Mike Simpson looks on. (Photo by Bill Geiger)
“The most pressing oral health issue in Indian Country is tooth decay, or caries, among young children,” Dr. Mark Walker told a House appropriations subcommittee. “It has reached epidemic proportions. The decay rate is about 400 percent greater in this population than in the general U.S. population. Worse still, the severity of decay is substantially higher. Preschool children average more than five teeth with decay compared to one decayed tooth among the rest of the population.”
The House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on interior, environment and related agencies took testimony from Native American witnesses and the American Dental Association. Dr. Walker chairs ADA’s Council on Government Affairs.
The Association commended the Indian Health Service for recently initiating an early childhood caries initiative (ADA News Today Jan. 26, Curbing caries, boosting access goals of IHS initiative) to promote prevention and early intervention of tooth decay in young children and cited a 2009 ADA symposium on early childhood caries in American Indian and Alaska Native children among efforts to address the problem.
One tribe, the Sisseton-Wahpeton, set a five-year goal to have all children caries free when they enter school, Dr. Walker testified. “We ask this committee to support that goal and extend it to all Native American children under the age of five. We estimate that accomplishing this would require an additional $50 million.”
“We’ll bring that up with the director of the Indian Health Service if we can get her here,” said Rep. James Moran (D-Va.), who was chairing the hearing when the Association testified.
The Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe is located primarily in Roberts, Day, and Marshall counties in South Dakota. The tribe has a population of more than 11,787 enrolled members, and about half of them live on the reservation.
The Association also called for increased funding for the IHS dental division and the dental loan repayment program and offered recommendations to improve the IHS electronic dental record system.
