So where does your state rank in terms of dental health for 2021? WalletHub has compiled its annual rankings and you can see in the map below where your state ranks overall.
Spoiler alert: Wisconsin ranked first overall in the study, followed by Illinois, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and Connecticut. The bottom five (in order all the way to the bottom) were Louisiana, Montana, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi.
WalletHub compiled its data using 26 key indicators of dental wellness, ranging from percentage of adults in the state who have visited the dentist in the past year to the average number of sugary drinks consumed per capita.
Some interesting facts, courtesy of WalletHub:
- Rhode Island has the lowest share of the population who couldn’t afford more dental visits due to costs, 37.00 percent, which is two times lower than in Georgia, the state with the highest at 74.00 percent.
- The District of Columbia has the most dentists per 100,000 residents, 68, which is 3.4 times more than in Louisiana, the state with the fewest at 20.
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of the population receiving fluoridated water, 100.00 percent, which is 11.4 times higher than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest at 8.8 percent.
- Minnesota, Hawaii, and Illinois have the lowest share of adults with poor or fair oral condition, 22.00 percent, which is 1.8 times lower than in Montana, the state with the highest at 40.00 percent.
You can see the entire list, methodology, rankings, and more by clicking here.
Note: “Smile because you want to” by mac.rj is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
