55 - Indian Health Service: Addressing Oral Health Disparities in American Indian & Alaska Native People

Description: The mission of the Indian Health Service (IHS) is to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) to the highest level. Across all age groups, AI/AN people suffer disproportionately from dental disease. AI/AN preschool children three to five years of age have the highest prevalence of ECC of any population group in the U.S., almost three times higher than white non-Hispanic children. In the six to nine year-old age group, AI/AN children have a higher prevalence of dental caries experience and untreated dental caries than the general U.S. population. For example, compared to the general U.S. population, AI/AN children are twice as likely to have untreated dental caries in their primary teeth and are five-times more likely to have untreated dental caries in their permanent teeth. In the 13-15 year-old age group, 75% of AI/AN dental clinic patients have a history of tooth decay, compared to just 50% in the general U. S. population, and over three times as many 13-15 year-old AI/AN youth have untreated decay compared to the general U. S. population. In adults, the disparity in disease is equally as pronounced. To address these disparities, the IHS Division of Oral Health has utilized different tactics which include national initiatives, partnerships with private and federal partners, expanded use of alternative dental workforce models, and an extensive continuing dental education program designed to train all dental staff on promising and best practices related to prevention and early intervention of dental disease.

Source of Funding:: None