Florida - According to a 2018 study conducted by WalletHub, a personal finance company, the State of Florida ranks among the states with the poorest dental health in the nation.
According to the study, Florida is 44
th in the U.S. in terms of overall dental health, 37
th in terms of dental habits and care, and 42
nd in terms of oral health. The 2018 scores are based off all 50 state’s dental habits and health and oral health.
The rankings are based off 25 different metrics, some of which include the number of adults and children who visited a dentist in the last year, cost of dental care, number of smokers, the amount of sugary beverage consumption among adolescents, and pain due to oral condition. Each metric, and how the scores were calculated, can be found
here under “Methodology.”
According to the
CDC, which WalletHub referenced in its findings, 64% of adults have not gone to the dentist in over a year. WalletHub says that many people do not like going to the dentist because they have not been brushing or flossing and, in some cases, people do not go due to dental anxiety and phobias.
Dental Economics calculated the average cost of a dental check-up to be $85-$100, a filling to be $230-$300, and a crown to be more than $1,100.
WalletHub recommends brushing, flossing and scheduling an annual checkup to prevent poor dental health. Some factors that impact dental health include how many dentists are in your area and if your area has fluoridated water. The
CDC says that over 80% of public water will be fluoridated by 2020.
The following graphs show each state’s rank as well as Florida’s rank in several categories:
(Charts courtesy of WalletHub)
For more on this story, head to WalletHub.com.
Photo courtesy of ponsulak and Shutterstock.com.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2018.