Dental Facts

• It takes 43 muscles to frown but only 17 to smile - so smile!
  Bad teeth and bad breath are the #1 turn-offs for women according to a survey in a popular men's magazine.
• Regular dental visits ensure healthy teeth and gums and detect at early stages diseases like cancer. Sixty percent of people in the U.S. visit their dentists on a regular basis.
• Tooth decay is caused by the germs (plaque) which live on your teeth. Plaque turns sugar found in food into acid. This acid then attaches to the tooth surface.
• The more often that you eat sugary foods, the more acid is produced and the more damage to your teeth.
• Many drinks are very sugary. Colas contain as much as 8 teaspoons of sugar.
• Carbonated drinks and fruit juices are acidic and diet sodas also damage teeth but to a lesser extent.
• Milk and water are the drinks recommended for between meals. Drinking and eating "bad" foods do more damage if they are between meals. Tea and coffee without sugar are acceptable.
• Fluoride provides protection against dental decay at all ages.
• Children do not lose all of their baby teeth at once. Certain baby molars are expected to be in the child's mouth until 12-13 years of age.
• 18 percent of 2-to-4-year-old children have experienced tooth decay, and 16 percent have untreated decay.
• 74% of children ages 2 through 17 have visited a dentist in the past year.
• By age 17, 78 percent of young people have had a cavity. By age 17, 7 percent of young people have lost at least one permanent tooth.
• Among poor children, almost 50% of tooth decay remains untreated.
• Dental caries (cavities) and periodontal diseases are the most common oral diseases and 85 percent of adults (18 and older) in the US are affected.
• Dental cavities are preventable for the most part, yet remain the most common chronic disease of children – five times more common than asthma.
• More than 108 million Americans do not have dental insurance.
• More than 70 percent of respondents say it is important for employers to provide dental benefits.
• Dental coverage is the second most popular benefit in compensation packages, next only to medical insurance.
• 65 percent of large employers offer dental benefits.