Illinois has a reason to flash those pearly whites. It was named the U.S. state with the best dental health while Arkansas was ranked the worst, according to an analysis recently released from personal finance website WalletHub.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia using 25 key metrics, including the share of adults who visited a dentist in the past year and the number of dentists per capita.
Behind Illinois, Minnesota was ranked No. 2, with Wisconsin, Michigan, and Connecticut rounding out the top five best states for dental health. Following Arkansas as the U.S. state with the worst dental health were Mississippi, West Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana. Several factors contributed to these findings, including that Minnesota, Hawaii, and Illinois have the lowest share of adults with poor or fair oral conditions. That was 1.8 times lower than in Montana, which is the U.S. state with the highest, according to the report.
Furthermore, Illinois came out on top because it has a very high percentage of residents with access to fluoridated water and extensive dental benefits through Medicaid. Also, the District of Columbia has the greatest share of the population receiving fluoridated water, which has been proven to prevent tooth decay. This is 11.8 times higher than in Hawaii, where the share of those receiving fluoridated water is the lowest, according to the report.
Despite claims from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has inched closer to being named the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that the Trump administration would remove fluoride from public water systems, dentists still see its benefits.
Dr. Burton L. Edelstein, MPH, professor emeritus of dental medicine and health policy and management at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said in the WalletHub report that municipalities should add fluoride to drinking water to improve dental health.
"According to the CDC, the American Dental Association, and public health agencies across the country, community water fluoridation continues to be the fairest, lowest-cost, and most effective approach to community-level prevention of tooth decay," Edelstein said.
Whasun Oh Chung, PhD, chair and research professor of the department of oral health sciences at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, said in the WalletHub report that fluoride is important for oral health.
"Fluoridated community water system is a great way to prevent cavity formation, as it can be far-reaching in a cost-effective way," Chung said.
