CT ranks high on dental health, but lots of room for improvement

It all depends on what you measure.

Wallet Hub ranked Connecticut the fifth best state for dental health. Metrics include the cost of dental care, the percent of adolescents getting dental care, and dentists per capita. Connecticut ranked well on adult dental visits, dental pain rates for adults (we were the lowest on that), and the percent of seniors with natural teeth. Not surprisingly, we ranked in the bottom states on dental care costs.

This contrasts with COHI’s much deeper dive into Connecticut children’s dental health and access to care. COHI found that one in six Connecticut kindergarteners and third graders have untreated dental decay. Black and Hispanic children are 5% more likely to need dental care than white children in our state.

There’s work to do.