An estimated 17 million low-income children in America go without dental care each year. This represents one out of every five children between the ages of 1 and 18 in the United States. Pew assessed and graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using an A to F scale, on whether and how well they are employing eight proven and promising policy approaches at their disposal to ensure dental health and access to care for disadvantaged children. Only six states merited A grades: Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island and South Carolina. These states met at least six of the eight policy benchmarks—that is, they had particular policies in place that met or exceeded the national performance thresholds. (PDF document, 74 pages)
Click here for the report.
|