Prioritizing Oral Health Care In Chicago Teens

This post is written by Lauren Prince.

Lauren is a Health Promoter at Heartland Health Centers - Senn/Roosevelt.

Beginning my service term, I naïvely believed that Chicago teens would have easy access to dental care. However, after serving at Senn and Roosevelt High Schools for over seven months, I recall outreaching to numerous students who had not received a dental exam for over a year. I then realized that access to oral health care is still a privilege in our society.

The Centers for Disease Control noted in a 2012 report that untreated dental caries in Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks were more than double that of non-Hispanic whites.¹ With both of my sites having student bodies largely consisting of Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks (~70%), access to comprehensive dental care is needed. Heartland Health Centers works to address this disparity by providing comprehensive dental services to both student populations. The Chicago Department of Public Health also offers free dental services for teens enrolled in Chicago public schools through their mobile dental clinic program.

Oral health serves as the cornerstone for adolescent wellness, because of its effects on other areas of teen health—diet, self-image, and sexual health. Dr. Cheitali Bhansali, the Associate Director of Oral Health at Heartland Health Centers, states that'the focus of our dental program is on promoting health and having healthy teeth and gums, because it has a lot of systemic implications on patients' overall health." As a health promoter, conveying this message to teens, parents, and even teachers can be difficult, since oral health is often seen as a separate, less important form of preventative care compared to vaccinations.

The accessibility of oral health services for teens remains an issue, but initiatives continue to address the problem areas. Chicago's Action Plan for Healthy Adolescents, a report compiled by the Chicago Department of Public Health, would like to nearly double the number of students receiving dental services at schools from 113,000 (2011) to 200,000 by 2020.² Preventative care can also help decrease disparities.'Early prevention and early intervention are important. Losing teeth has a lot of implications on the body. In adolescents, you want to prevent these issues or intervene early," Dr. Bhansali advises. Proper communication and education are needed to let teens know that their smile is not only aesthetically important, but also plays a role in their overall wellbeing. Whether I'm teaching a sexual health or nutrition lesson, incorporating education about proper oral health care is critical.

1. Dye BA, Li X, Thornton-Evans G. Oral health disparities as determined by selected Healthy People 2020 oral health objectives for the United States, 2009-2010. NCHS data brief, no 104. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012.
2. Elder SE, Starks C, Adolescent Health Access Committee, et al. Chicago's Action Plan for Adolescents. Office of Adolescent and School Health, Chicago Department of Public Health. City of Chicago. December 2013.