Why We Care

The #1 Childhood Disease in America:
Pediatric Dental Disease - A National Health Crisis

Untreated tooth decay often leads to pain, infection, dysfunction and low self-esteem. It's completely preventable with help from caring individuals like you.

An estimated 4 million to 5 million children have dental problems so severe they have trouble eating, sleeping and learning. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General has called dental disease a "silent epidemic".

• American children miss more than 50 million hours of school each year due to dental-related illness.
  
• According to The Surgeon General's report, dental decay is the most common untreated chronic childhood illness…yet, it is one of the most easily preventable.
  
• Poor children suffer twice as much dental caries as their more affluent peers, and their disease is more likely to be untreated. Just one-quarter of U.S. children and adolescents suffer 80 percent of all cases of decay in permanent teeth.
  
• One out of four children in America is born into poverty, and children living below the poverty line (annual income of $20,000 for a family of four) have more severe and untreated decay.
  
• Oral diseases are progressive and cumulative and become more complex over time. They can affect the foods we choose, how we look, the way we communicate, and our ability to concentrate at home, at school, or on the job.