With signs that too many kids are falling through the cracks when it comes to dental care, a survey is asking Butte County residents what needs to change.
The Butte County Public Health Department launched the survey after assessing the dental health of children at an Oroville elementary school in 2023. The results were striking. Out of about 250 students assessed, more than half had visible tooth decay. Another 28 needed emergency dental services. In total, the county referred 105 students to oral care physicians.
“A lot of it is because there’s not enough providers.”- Jodi Putnman, Butte County Department of Public Health division director
Jodi Putnam, a public health division director involved in the project, said her team is working on the assessments and providing a stopgap for dental issues in the region.
“We're not in to compete with dentists or be a dentist or turn a profit,” Putnam said. “We're really looking at trying to make sure all residents of Butte County have access to dental care.”
Putnam said one main question the county has been asking parents is why they’re not seeking treatment for their children.
“A lot of it is because there's not enough providers,” Putnam said.
Dentist shortage
Access to care, which includes dental care, was found to be the top concern in Butte County’s 2023 Community Health Assessment. The report said the county “has a shortage of primary care physicians and dentists, and many residents have difficulty finding primary care.” It found that there were 3.9 dentists per 5,000 residents, a lower number than the state average of 4.4 dentists per 5,000 residents.
In 2021, that number was even lower at the time at around 2.6 dentists per 5,000 residents. This figure was similar to many other counties in the region, but lagged behind more populated counties in California, including San Francisco (6.1) Placer (5.0) and San Mateo (4.9).
“Oral health is the key to overall a healthy body and we’re finding, especially in Butte County, that we have large gaps and people are not able to access oral health services.”- Jodi Putnman, Butte County Department of Public Health division directo
Lack of insurance coverage is also an issue in the area, and Putnam said many residents don’t have the means to get treatment.
“That’s kind of why we’re shifting our focus at public health to provide those assessments,” Putnam said. “We’re not funded to do preventative care so we’re trying to fund ourselves to be able to do the preventative care where we can go in and do a fluoride varnish [and] a cleaning at least.”
Butte County is one of the first in the state that’s piloting this program. Putnam said it takes around $200,000 per year to keep it running. It’s funded until 2027 by a mix of grants and revenue from a 2016 California cigarette tax, but she said future funding is uncertain.
“We've actually been told that most likely the funding is going to dwindle for two reasons: because of the state deficit and also because people are smoking less,” Putnam said.
If funding stops, she said service stops. But the department is looking for ways to continue through grants and potential insurance billing methods.
“We don't want to compete with dentists. We don't want to be a dentist. We don't have the capacity for that,” Putnam said. “But we need to be able to bill, or get some sort of reimbursement for the preventative stuff that we can do.”
Beyond the teeth
Oral health affects much more than just the mouth. According to the World Health Organization oral diseases can cause “pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that an average of “34 million school hours are lost each year because of unplanned (emergency) dental care, and over $45 billion in U.S. productivity is lost each year due to untreated dental disease.”
Putnam agreed, saying oral care is vital to living a healthy life.
“It's the whole body. It's your cardiovascular system, it's your mental health, it's how you look at yourself, how you present yourself, speech,” Putnam said. “Oral health is the key to overall a healthy body and we're finding, especially in Butte County, that we have large gaps and people are not able to access oral health services.”
The survey will be available for residents to fill out until fall of this year. It consists of about 30 questions that ask about residents’ personal dental health and care, and what’s needed in the community.
