Oral Health Program: Seal-A-Smile Data
Tooth decay (or cavities) is the most common chronic disease experienced during childhood. It is estimated that more than 34 million hours of school are lost each year due to unplanned dental care for preventable oral disease. If left untreated, cavities can impact a child’s ability to eat, speak, and learn.
In Wisconsin, 3 in 5 students in third grade have had a cavity. The application of dental sealants is one of the most effective ways to prevent the development of cavities, as sealants can prevent 8 out of 10 cavities on teeth in the back of the mouth.
Wisconsin’s Seal-A-Smile (SAS) is the state’s premier school-based dental sealant program and was formed over two decades ago to expand access to preventive dental services, such as dental sealants. Each year, SAS provides funding to local programs to implement school-based oral health services.
The following interactive data dashboard provides a snapshot of SAS programming at the state and county levels. Topics include preventive services, student and school level participation rates, and student demographics. More information on the data and how to use the dashboard can be found in the sections following the dashboard.
Wisconsin Seal-A-Smile data dashboard
The title banner can be used to filter data in the teal panels to specific counties. If a county is not served by a SAS program, the panels will display a “not served” tag.
The map of Wisconsin displays various preventive services topics and can be filtered using the “Select Preventive Service” filter. Once filtered, the map will be updated with data of the respective preventive service. More detailed information on each county can be displayed by hovering your mouse over the county of interest.
The “View Programs by County” button can be used to transition the primary dashboard to a secondary dashboard that allows you to view the programs available in each county. The “View County SAS Data” button can be used to return to the primary dashboard.
The data contained in the dashboard is only representative of services administered during the 2023-24 school year by SAS programs and does not represent the entire county. Charts showing participation by race or ethnicity only include participants where race or ethnicity was known. Additionally, data suppression restrictions were used as needed to ensure SAS participant confidentiality. A detailed description of each preventive service metric follows:
- Percent of children receiving sealants: Proportion of children served by SAS programs that received a sealant.
- Percent of sealants applied to first molars: Proportion of all of sealants placed by SAS programs that were applied to first molars.
- Percent of sealants applied to second molars: Proportion of all of sealants placed by SAS programs that were applied to second molars.
- Percent of sealants applied to other teeth: Proportion of all of sealants placed by SAS programs that were applied teeth that are not first or second molars.
- Percent of children receiving fluoride varnish treatment: Proportion of children participating in SAS that received at least one fluoride varnish treatment.
- Percent of children receiving two or more fluoride varnish treatments: Proportion of children participating in SAS that received two or more fluoride varnish treatments.
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