New report finds many unaware of connection between poor oral health, serious medical conditions (but 9 in 10 want to learn more)

Posted on May 5, 2022 in General oral health

Delta Dental of Illinois has released the 2022 State of America’s Oral Health and Wellness Report, a nationwide analysis of consumer opinions and behaviors relating to oral health. Findings from the Delta Dental-commissioned research of U.S. adults and parents of children ages 12 and younger illuminate what they thought about their oral health and what they did to properly care for it at home and with their dentist during 2021. A few highlights from this year’s report include:

Public interest prevails in getting smarter about oral health’s link to better health

• Nearly all U.S. adults (92%) and parents (96%) indicate that they consider oral health to be very, if not extremely, important to overall health.
• However, the research finds that many are unaware of how oral health and overall health are connected, as a significant number of people were unable to recognize the medical conditions that are linked to poor oral health, including strokes (38%), high blood pressure (37%) and diabetes (36%).
• The promising news is 9 in 10 (90%) adults are interested in learning about oral health’s critical connection to overall health.

Visits to dentist on the rise

• Most children (89%) and adults (72%) went to the dentist last year.
• This year, significantly fewer parents report that their children are experiencing or have experienced oral health issues compared to surveys from the previous two years, which could correlate to the finding that significantly more children visited their dentist for preventive reasons in 2021 (92%) than the year before (81% in 2020).
• Nearly all (94%) adults plan to visit the dentist this year.

To read the full 2022 State of America’s Oral Health and Wellness Report and learn more about the report’s methodology and findings, click here.

About the research

The 2022 State of America’s Oral Health and Wellness Report is based upon Delta Dental-commissioned research conducted between January 19 and January 28, 2022, by Material, a global insights and strategy consultancy, using an email invitation and online surveys to two audiences recruited through an opt-in panel:

• 1,172 parents of children ages 12 and younger.
• 1,027 nationally representative Americans ages 18+.

Quotas were set to ensure a reliable and accurate representation of the U.S. population of adults and parents with children ages 12 and younger. The report has a margin of error of +/- 3%.

Click image to read the summary.