CHINA GROVE — If children at China Grove Elementary School had any cavities they didn’t know about before Wednesday morning, they know about them now.
When time came for dental screenings for the school’s 280 kindergartners and fifth-graders, children had to open their mouths and say “ah” not once, but 10 times.
The event gave dentists and dental hygienists from around North Carolina a chance to see if they’re examining children in the same way — and finding the same problems.
“It gives us a lot of information in a small amount of time,” said Debbie Krueger, a dental hygienist for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Armed with flashlights and tongue depressors, state health officials counted fillings and teeth needing care in each child’s mouth. If they had a question they turned to Dr. Rebecca King, the state’s head of oral epidemiology.
“We want to see the same results, and if we don’t, we want to discuss it and know why,” she explained.
The state has 52 health officials in North Carolina who examine about 95 percent of kindergartners and fifth-graders in public schools throughout the state.
Dental disease doesn’t affect as many children in North Carolina now as it did earlier, research indicates. More than 80 percent of tooth decay is now found in about 25 percent of the children examined. A majority of these children come from poor families in rural mountain counties, state officials say.
Contact Brad A. Hodges at 704-797-4266 or bhodges@salisburypost.com
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