Study: 91% Of US Adults Have Had Dental Caries In Permanent Teeth.

TIME (5/13, Sifferlin) reports that a new study from the NIH and CDC found that 91 percent of US adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have had dental caries in permanent teeth as of 2011-2012, and among 65-year-olds, 96 percent have tooth decay. TIME adds that more than a quarter of adults ages 20 to 64 have untreated tooth decay, while “Hispanic and black adults had more untreated cavities compared with white and Asian adults ages 20 to 64,” with black adults at a rate of 42 percent. The study also found that “American adults ages 20 to 39 were twice as likely to have all their teeth, compared with adults ages 40 to 64.”