Fun Dental Facts

How much is the Tooth Fairy paying per tooth? Around $2 per tooth, according to Securian Dental Plans, an insurance provider. (12/05, Money Magazine) 

• Top of the American teeth stakes in the poll for greatest looking teeth were Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. 

• The average American spends 38.5 total days brushing teeth over lifetime.

•  73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss.

• Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. 

• The number of cavities in the average mouth is down, and people are keeping their teeth longer.   People, on average, have healthier mouths than even 10 years ago.  

• The number of cavities in the average mouth is down and people are keeping their teeth longer.   People, on average, have healthier mouths than even 10 years ago.  Specifically:
  
  ---The decline in tooth decay was greatest among kids, but holds across every age group.
  ---Only 40% of  young people age 6 to 19 have ever in their lives had cavities.  That’s down from 50% a decade ago.
  ---Over the last ten, years the proportion of people age 60 who have lost all their teeth had decreased from 33% to 25%.
  ---Use of dental sealants, which block tooth decay on the chewing surfaces of kids’ vulnerable molars, was up 64%.  30% of kids had had at least one sealed tooth.
  ---Adults with post-high-school diplomas have an average of three more teeth than those without a high school diploma.
  ---Smokers remain three times more likely than non-smokers to lose all their teeth.  This figure has not changed from a decade ago.
  ---Socio-economic status plays a definite role in one’s general and dental health.33% of low-income adults have untreated decay.  This compares with 16% of middle- and higher-income adults.  19% of kids living in poverty have untreated decay, compared with 8% of wealthier kids. (Source : CDC & ADA 1/06)

• The average toothbrush contains about 2,5000 bristles grouped into about 40 tufts per toothbrush.  The tufts are folded over a metal staple and forced onto pre-cored holes in the head and fused into the head with heat.  The handle is made of at least two materials, usually plastic and rubber.

• The average woman smiles about 62 times a day!  A man?  Only 8!
  Kids laugh around 400 times a day. Grown-ups just 15.  Smilers in school yearbooks are more likely to have successful careers and marriages than poker faced peers.

• According to a 1997 Gallup Poll, dentistry is the fifth most trusted profession in America.

• Tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease among children ages 5-17 with 59% affected.
• More than 51 million hours of school are lost each year by children due to dental related illness.
  
• Employed adults lose more than 164 million hours of work each year due to oral health problems or dental visits.
• Just 40% of children in poor or near-poor poverty level have had a preventive dental visit in the past year.
• 44% of dental care expenditures are paid out-of-pocket.
  (Source: Issue Briefs on Challenges for the 21st Century: Chronic and Disabling Conditions)