News and Updates

The debate over fluoride in America’s drinking water has moved from fringe concern to mainstream policy battle, and the consequences for children’s teeth are now quantified. Researchers at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital published a modeling study in JAMA Health Forum projecting that eliminating fluoride from public water systems nationwide … Read more

A major new study from the University of Copenhagen, the largest of its kind ever conducted, has found that children with numerous tooth cavities had up to a 45% higher incidence of heart attack, stroke, and coronary artery disease as adults compared to children with healthier teeth.  The study tracked 568,778 individuals from childhood into adulthood and … Read more

A major new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Anesthesia Progress has found that dental sedation succeeded in just 69.3% of cases involving young children, meaning roughly 3 in 10 children who received sedation for a dental procedure did not have a fully successful outcome. The study analyzed records from 824 children aged 2 to … Read more

New York City is getting its first new dental school since 1916. Yeshiva University announced on March 11, 2026, that its College of Dental Medicine will open in Herald Square, Midtown Manhattan, enrolling its first class of 150 students in July 2026. At the center of the school is Yeshiva Dental Health, a 130-chair clinical … Read more

Governor Kathy Hochul announced on February 27, 2026, that the New York State Department of Health will distribute $10 million in funding to expand dental care services at 33 school-based health centers across New York State over five years. The program delivers free preventive and restorative dental care, including screenings, sealants, and treatments, directly inside … Read more

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), representing more than 11,000 pediatric dental specialists nationwide, formally challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to reviewing fluoride in drinking water on February 27, 2026. The AAPD, joined by 140 state and national organizations including the American Dental Association, multiple American Academy of Pediatrics state chapters, and the … Read more

Emergency room visits for non-traumatic dental pain in children under age 15 rose nearly 60 percent between 2019 and 2022, according to data from the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health published in a major KFF Health News investigation on March 10, 2026. At Children’s Hospital Colorado, non-traumatic dental ER cases climbed 175 percent between 2010 … Read more