Goal: Improve oral health by increasing access to oral health care, including preventive services.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in children and adults in the United States.1,2 Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing tooth decay and other oral health conditions and helping people get oral health care services.3 

Regular preventive dental care can catch problems early, when they’re usually easier to treat.4 But many people don’t get the care they need, often because they can’t afford it. Untreated oral health problems can cause pain and disability and are linked to other diseases.

Strategies to help people access dental services can help prevent problems like tooth decay, gum disease, and tooth loss. Individual-level interventions like topical fluorides and community-level interventions like community water fluoridation can also help improve oral health. In addition, teaching people how to take care of their teeth and gums can help prevent oral health problems.

Objective Status

  • 14 Baseline only
  • 1 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Oral Conditions Objectives

Oral Conditions — General

Reduce the proportion of adults with active or untreated tooth decay — OH‑03

Baseline only

Increase the proportion of oral and pharyngeal cancers detected at the earliest stage — OH‑07

Baseline only

Increase use of the oral health care system — OH‑08

Baseline only

Adolescents

Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with lifetime tooth decay — OH‑01

Baseline only

Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with active and untreated tooth decay — OH‑02

Baseline only

Health Care Access and Quality

Increase the proportion of people with dental insurance — AHS‑02

Baseline only

Reduce the proportion of people who can’t get the dental care they need when they need it — AHS‑05

Baseline only

Health Policy

Increase the proportion of people whose water systems have the recommended amount of fluoride — OH‑11

Baseline only

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Reduce consumption of added sugars by people aged 2 years and over — NWS‑10

Baseline only

Older Adults

Reduce the proportion of older adults with untreated root surface decay — OH‑04

Baseline only

Reduce the proportion of adults aged 45 years and over who have lost all their teeth — OH‑05

Baseline only

Reduce the proportion of adults aged 45 years and over with moderate and severe periodontitis — OH‑06

Baseline only

Preventive Care

Increase the proportion of low-income youth who have a preventive dental visit — OH‑09

Baseline only

Increase the proportion of children and adolescents who have dental sealants on 1 or more molars — OH‑10

Baseline only

Public Health Infrastructure

Increase the number of states and DC that have an oral and craniofacial health surveillance system — OH‑D01

Developmental