Magazine: Study confirms a dental crisis in Indian Country

Tuesday, April 24, 2012  

"Research has discovered a dental crisis occurring in many Native American tribes. A study shows that 90% of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation residents in South Dakota had at least one decayed tooth, according to a study completed by Dr. Terry Batliner, and his colleagues who are researchers at the University of Colorado in Denver.

The study was created because the last report done on Native American oral health issues was published more than ten years ago. A team made up of a dentist and dental hygienists did dental and oral soft tissue examinations on 292 patients from the Oglala Lakota tribe.

It showed that the adults had an average of 10 decayed or filled teeth and children had an average of three that were filled or were decaying. The findings showed that there are now more decayed teeth and fewer filings than in the previous study done ten years ago."

Get the Story:
The Native American Dental Crisis (Dental Health Magazine 4/24)

Opinion: A model in dental care from Alaska Native villages (4/9)