Dental caries and lack of dental care is common among the poor
36% of children have dental problems according to homeless families surveyed 1
28% of children have visible caries according to providers of health care for homeless children 2
10 times rate of poor dentition in homeless children compared with general population according to national homeless health care providers 3
1. Miller DS et al. Children in Sheltered Homeless Families: Reported Health Status and Use of Health Services. Pediatrics 81: 668-673 (1988).
2. Page AJ et al. Homeless families and their children’s health problems: a Utah urban experience. Western Journal of Medicine 158: 30-35 (1993).
3. Wright JD. Children in and of the Streets. AJDC 145:516-519 (1991).