The Greater Derry Oral Health Collaborative Corporation announces that based on a report released in January by the Pew Center for the States, New Hampshire and Maine are the only states with a perfect score in providing dental sealants for low-income youth. Dental sealants are a coating that takes a few minutes to apply to the chewing surfaces of back teeth, the ones most likely to develop cavities. The coatings provide a barrier to bacteria and food particles that cause cavities.
In Londonderry, the preventive service was provided at South, North and Matthew Thornton elementary schools, Londonderry Middle School and Moose Hill Kindergarten. In Derry the services were provided at Barka, Derry Village, East Derry Memorial, Grinnell, and South Range elementary schools as well as at Gilbert H. Hood and West Running Brook middle schools.
Pew’s “Falling Short: Most States Lag on Dental Sealants,” reports that 40 percent of states earned a grade of D or F, with five states receiving an A. The other three states getting an A are Rhode Island,
Delaware and Alaska.
The Greater Derry Collaborative operates two school dental programs that together have placed sealants on more than 2,500 elementary and middle school students in Derry, Londonderry, Salem, Chester, Hampstead, Sandown and Windham, made possible by grants from the Alexander Eastman Foundation, Granite United Way, and contributions from local service organizations.