Dental Health Study Claims Wyoming Has Nice Teeth And Bad Breath
Smile, Wyoming. A new oral health care study claims the Cowboy State has one of the lowest percentages of tooth decay in the country. Unfortunately, our breath smells terrible.
First, the good news: Wyoming ranked fourth among states with the lowest percentage of "poor oral health".
Now, the bad news: our "dental health habits" ranked 36th nationwide. Limited access to dentists and an above average percentage of smokers combined to lower Wyoming's overall oral health ranking to 38th.
Many of the states with the worst dental health are in the south. Arkansas ranked last in the study, followed by Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, and Louisiana.
Montana had the lowest ranking in the west, 43rd overall. Despite having the third highest percentage of dentists per capita, Montana had the highest percentage of residents with "poor oral health", the second-highest percentage of residents who experience tooth pain, and ranked fourth among states where dental and oral health issues negatively impact the quality of life.
Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Illinois were crowned the top five states in the study.