Children's Dental Health: Hawaii

Hawaii meets only one of the eight policy benchmarks aimed at improving children's dental health, making it the worst overall performer among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Hawaii does not fully use proven preventive strategies: It lacks a school sealant program and has the lowest rate of fluoridation of any state. Residents living on military bases are the only ones who receive fluoridated water.¹

The Aloha State's silver lining is Medicaid utilization—over 45 percent of enrolled children received dental services in 2009.

1. D. Easa, et al., “Addressing Oral Health Disparities in Settings Without a Research-Intensive Dental School: Collaborative Strategies,” Ethnicity and Disease 15, (2005): 187-190. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1371063/, (accessed February 24, 2011).