Have you neglected taking your kids to the dentist during COVID? Or has it been more than a year (or even years!) since you’ve gone in for a cleaning yourself? When it comes to dental hygiene, the good news is that the CDC has reported no COVID-19 transmissions in a clinical dental setting. Need another great reason to smile? In a new report from WalletHub, New Jersey ranked number 10 in the nation for best dental health!
In order to determine where people have the healthiest teeth and gums in the US, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 26 key metrics including share of adolescents who had visited the dentist in the past year, number of dentists per capita and sugar sweetened beverage consumption among adolescents.
February is National Children’s Dental Health Month so take this as your cue to book that dental appointment for your little ones – and make one for yourself while you’re at it!
Here are the top 10 states in the US for overall best dental health:
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- District of Columbia
- Minnesota
- Connecticut
- North Dakota
- Michigan
- Idaho
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
New Jersey ranked number one in the US for states with the lowest consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Yay parents on encouraging water over Sprite! We also came in number 5 for states with the lowest percentage of adults with fair or poor oral condition – which means we take our healthy smiles seriously here in the Garden State.
You won’t find many seniors without their teeth in Jersey – we came in number 3 on the lowest percentage of elderly population with no natural teeth. (Which means we can expect to be biting into hoagies well into our golden years!).
The takeaway from this survey is that New Jersey has a lot to grin about, so put fear aside and go see the dentist to maintain good oral health!