U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Preventing Tooth Decay

About this resource:

HHS Non-Systematic Review

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Last Reviewed: May 2015

Workgroups: Oral Health Workgroup

This website provides information on preventing tooth decay. It lists 3 main tools for prevention, which are:

  • Fluoride varnish
  • Dental sealants
  • Community water fluoridation

The website links to actionable resources for:

  • Public health practitioners
  • State decision makers
  • State Medicaid officials
  • Health system stakeholders

It also provides examples on the state level and strategies for improved population health.

Read more about this resource

Objectives related to this resource (7)

Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with lifetime tooth decay — OH‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with active and untreated tooth decay — OH‑02
Improving
Reduce the proportion of adults with active or untreated tooth decay — OH‑03
Improving
Increase use of the oral health care system — OH‑08
LHI label
Target met or exceeded
Increase the proportion of low-income youth who have a preventive dental visit — OH‑09
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of children and adolescents who have dental sealants on 1 or more molars — OH‑10
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of people whose water systems have the recommended amount of fluoride — OH‑11
Baseline only

Suggested Citation

1.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of the Associate Director for Policy and Strategy. (2015). Preventing tooth decay. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/policy/hst/statestrategies/oralhealth/index.html