Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize February as National Children's Dental Health Month. Since 1981, this month has afforded us the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of children's dental health, recognize the significant strides we have made, and renew our commitment to ensuring all children in our country have access to affordable and comprehensive dental services. To echo Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, ``There is no health without oral health.'' Despite recent encouraging reductions in tooth decay, also known as dental caries, particularly among younger children, dental caries remains one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. About one in four preschool children experienced caries in primary teeth, and at least one in six children aged 6 to 11 years experienced dental caries in permanent teeth. Deferring routine preventive and restorative dental care increases the need for more advanced and expensive dental services, which are even less accessible, further widening the inequalities. There is a persistent pattern of disparities in which children from lower income and minority racial and ethnic groups generally experience more disease and have less access to treatment. Children from low-income households are twice as likely to have cavities, compared with children from higher income households.…”