Healthy Teeth and Success in School

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By Jessica A. Rickert, DDS

February 23, 2025

A strong link exists between children’s healthy teeth and success in school. Poor oral health status has consistently been correlated to worse academic performance across age, sex, race, and household income for students.

 This evidence highlights the need to promote children's excellent dental health during February, Give Kids A Smile Month.

Dental problems are significantly associated with reductions in school attendance, psychosocial well-being, positive socialization, and measurable school performance.  Reduction in positive socialization is associated with shyness, unhappiness, feeling of worthlessness, and reduced friendliness, all of which impact school performance.

Healthy teeth during the first 5 years of life are associated with higher reading and math scores in grades 2 to 11, while poor oral health is associated with lower scores.  Most results were similar when separating elementary,  middle, and high school grades, indicating persistence over age.  Because unmet dental health needs are so harmful, excellent dental health must start early, before age one-year-old.    

Early childhood caries (cavities) is the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States. Left untreated, tooth decay can lead to pain, reduced function, and infection that inhibit a child’s ability to eat, sleep, speak, play, and learn.

Students miss an average of more than thirty-four million school hours each year because of dental emergencies. This is roughly 8.6 million 6- to 12-year-olds!

Dental disease can worsen other chronic childhood medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, malnourishment, and asthma. 

"For kids, oral health issues can distract from schoolwork and lead to less time in the classroom, leaving kids with more ground to make up in their studies," said Bill Kohn, DDS, vice president of dental science and policy at Delta Dental Plans Association. "Parents are concerned, but some simple steps can help make all the difference."

We at the Anishinaabe Dental Outreach recommend;

• Nursing the baby
• Cleaning the baby’s teeth before age one
• Have the baby visit the dentist before age one
• Limit sugar in child’s diet
• Offer milk and water only to the child
• Include fluoride for the child
• Be aware that the germs causing cavities are passed from family member to family member

Why not control what we can to ensure excellence in school performance?  Why not control what we can to develop excellent dental health for our children?

Dr. Jessica A. Rickert is a tribal citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, in 1975, she became for the first female Native American dentist.

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