Poor oral health can mean missed school, lower grades

Poor oral health, dental disease, and tooth pain can put kids at a serious disadvantage in school, according to researchers from the Ostrow School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California.

Their study, entitled the Impact of Oral Health on the Academic Performance of Disadvantaged Children, examined nearly 1,500 socioeconomically disadvantaged elementary and high school children in the Los Angeles Unified School District, matching their oral health status to their academic achievement and attendance records (American Journal of Public Health, September 2012, Vol. 102:9, pp. 1729-1734).

The researchers had previously documented that 73% of disadvantaged kids in Los Angeles have dental caries. The new study shines light on the specific connection between oral health and performance in school for this population, according to Roseann Mulligan, chair of the school's division of dental public health and pediatric dentistry and corresponding author of the study.

Children who reported having recent tooth pain were four times more likely to have a low grade point average (GPA) -- below the median of 2.8 -- when compared with children without oral pain, the study found.

Poor oral health doesn't just appear to be connected to lower grades, Mulligan noted. Dental problems also seem to cause more absences from school for kids and more missed work for parents.

"On average, elementary children missed a total of 6 days per year, and high school children missed 2.6 days. For elementary students, 2.1 days of missed school were due to dental problems, and high school students missed 2.3 days due to dental issues," she stated in a university press release. "That shows oral health problems are a very significant factor in school absences. Also, parents missed an average of 2.5 days of work per year to care for children with dental problems."

A factor in whether children miss school due to dental health issues was the accessibility of dental care. The study found that 11% of children who had limited access to dental care -- whether due to lack of insurance, lack of transportation, or other barriers -- missed school due to their poor oral health, as opposed to only 4% of children who had easier access to dental care.

"Our data indicates that for disadvantaged children there is an impact on students' academic performance due to dental problems," Mulligan said. "We recommend that oral health programs be more integrated into other health, educational, and social programs, especially those that are school-based."

Widespread population studies are needed to demonstrate the enormous personal, societal, and financial burdens that this epidemic of oral disease is causing on a national level, she added.