A new report from the state Department of Health is not much to smile about, the agency admits.

The survey confirmed that kids in the state have the highest prevalence of tooth decay in the nation.

“More than seven out of 10 third graders (71 percent) are affected by tooth decay,” according to a press release Monday. “This is substantially higher than the national average of 52 percent.”

The results come from data collected from more than 3,000 third grade students in 67 public elementary schools during the 2014-2015 school year.

The survey was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Additional local funding came from the HDS Foundation and the Kaiser Foundation.

The DOH is putting its best spin on the data.

“We can now begin to fill in the gaps in oral health for children by joining with various partners in the community and harnessing the latest technological tools available,” said Dr. Virginia Pressler, DOH director. “Our goal is to make quality oral health care more accessible for all Hawaii children by offering culturally appropriate, community-based prevention programs, screening and referral services, and restorative dental care.”

Here are some key findings from the report:

• About 7 percent of Hawaii third grade children are in need of urgent dental care because of pain or infection.
• The need for urgent dental care is about six times higher in low-income children compared to their higher-income peers.
• About 56 percent of Micronesian and 41 percent of other Pacific Islander children have untreated decay – four times higher than the prevalence among Caucasian (13 percent) and Japanese (11 percent) children.

The survey showed that all Hawaii children “do not take advantage” of preventive measures to improve their oral health, the DOH said. “More than 60 percent of children in Hawaii do not have protective dental sealants, a cost-effective clinical intervention to prevent tooth decay in molars.