Keeping Kids in Class: Why Oral Health Matters for Student Success
Oral health is a critical, often overlooked, part of a child’s overall well-being and academic success. While dental disease is largely preventable, it remains the most common chronic condition among children in the United States. Its impact extends far beyond the dentist’s chair, affecting students’ ability to eat, sleep, focus, and fully participate in school.
A recent research project, funded by the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation and led by the Center for Oral Health, sheds light on a key but underrecognized issue: dental-related school absences. The findings underscore both the power of school-based oral health programs and a major systems gap in how schools track the true causes of absenteeism.
The Hidden Cost of Dental Absenteeism
Across the country, millions of school hours are lost each year due to dental pain and unplanned dental care. In California alone, untreated dental problems account for an estimated 874,000 missed school days annually, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in lost attendance-based funding for school districts.
Despite these staggering numbers, most school districts do not track absences caused specifically by dental issues. Instead, dental-related absences are typically grouped into broad illness categories, masking the true scope of the problem and limiting educators’ and policymakers’ ability to respond effectively.
This lack of standardized tracking means that the educational impact of oral health often remains invisible, even though the consequences for students, families, and schools are very real.
School-Based Oral Health Programs Make a Difference
The Center for Oral Health’s Early Smiles Sacramento (ESS) program demonstrates how school-based oral health initiatives can reduce barriers to care and help keep kids in class. By bringing preventive services directly to schools and community settings, ESS minimizes the need for families to miss work and students to miss instructional time for dental appointments.
During the 2024–2025 program year, Early Smiles Sacramento:
• Reached more than 113,000 students with oral health education
• Conducted over 25,723 dental screenings
• Provided more than 16,312 fluoride varnish applications
• Identified 592 children with urgent dental needs and successfully navigated the majority to care within 48 hours
Parents consistently reported high satisfaction with the program, citing convenience, reduced stress, and improved access to care. Families who used ESS services were also far more likely to say the program helped reduce dental-related absences compared to families who did not receive services.
What the Data Revealed — and What’s Missing
One of the most significant findings from this research was not only the impact of dental disease on attendance, but also the limited data available to fully capture it.
In Sacramento County, the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA) preschool system was the only district that coded absences specifically attributed to dental reasons. During the 2024–2025 school year, SETA recorded 444 dental-related absences among preschool students, representing nearly nine full weeks of lost classroom instruction.
Because most K–12 districts do not track dental-related absences separately, this preschool data offers only a partial glimpse into a much larger issue. Without standardized absence coding, the full burden of dental disease on learning remains hidden across California and beyond.
Why Tracking Dental Absences Matters
When dental-related absences are tracked consistently, schools and policymakers can:
• Better understand how oral health affects attendance and learning
• Quantify preventable absences and associated funding losses
• Evaluate the impact and return on investment of school-based oral health programs
• Make informed decisions about funding, policy, and program expansion
Demonstrating Impact Through Action
The findings from this DTA Foundation–funded research clearly show how targeted, school-based oral health initiatives are making a measurable difference for students, families, and schools.
Programs like Early Smiles Sacramento illustrate the real-world impact of bringing preventive care directly to where children learn. By reducing barriers such as transportation, scheduling challenges, and cost, these efforts have improved access to care, addressed urgent dental needs quickly, and helped students remain healthy and present in the classroom. Families who participated reported higher satisfaction, stronger support navigating care, and a greater belief that these services reduced dental-related absences.
Together, these outcomes reinforce a simple but powerful conclusion: when oral health is addressed through intentional, data-informed school-based projects, students benefit, families are supported, and schools are better equipped to keep kids in class.
The Dental Trade Alliance Foundation is deeply grateful to our donors whose generosity made this support possible and enables the Foundation to invest in projects that generate meaningful data, strengthen community-based programs, and elevate oral health as a critical factor in educational success. By funding initiatives like this one, our donors help turn research into action, improving access to care, informing policy, and ensuring more children are healthy, present, and ready to learn.