The Cavity Capitals

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St. Louis is a great city. There's a lot to smile about, except for the smiles themselves. St. Louis is the town with the worst teeth, the most dentally challenged in the land. In other words, it failed our oral exam.

Since we are talking about the Show Me State, here's our evidence: We looked at community water fluoridation (CDC), the percentage of people who saw a dentist in the past year, as well as the percentage who've had teeth extracted (CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System), the percentage of households using dental floss (Mediamark Research), the money spent on oral hygiene products (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and the number of dentist offices per capita (Census Bureau). After we crunched the numbers, we brushed and flossed. (Another thing we're committed to doing for our teeth? Avoiding these

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10 Worst Cities for Teeth

Rank	City	Grade	Rank	City	Grade
1.	St. Louis, MO	F	6.	Jackson, MS	F
2.	Philadelphia, PA	F	7.	Jersey City, NJ	F
3.	Newark, NJ	F	8.	Milwaukee, WI	D-
4.	Baltimore, MD	F	9.	Kansas City, MO	D-
5.	New Orleans	F	10.	Dallas, TX	D-

The Next 80

Rank	City	Grade	Rank	City	Grade
11.	El Paso, TX	D	51.	Durham, NC	C
12.	Detroit, MI	D	52.	Billings, MT	C+
13.	Lubbock, TX	D	53.	Bakersfield, CA	C+
14.	Miami, FL	D	54.	Sacramento, CA	C+
15.	Buffalo, NY	D	55.	Phoenix, AZ	C+
16.	Chicago, IL	D	56.	Washington, DC	C+
17.	Memphis, TN	D	57.	Indianapolis, IN	C+
18.	Montgomery, AL	D	58.	Arlington, TX	C+
19.	Pittsburgh, PA	D	59.	Columbus, OH	C+
20.	Birmingham, AL	D	60.	Atlanta, GA	C+
21.	Tucson, AZ	D	61.	Reno, NV	C+
22.	Tampa, FL	D+	62.	Nashville, TN	C+
23.	Los Angeles, CA	D+	63.	Madison, WI	C+
24.	Jacksonville, FL	D+	64.	Little Rock, AR	C+
25.	Cleveland, OH	D+	65.	Albuquerque, NM	C+
26.	Louisville, KY	D+	66.	Modesto, CA	C+
27.	Fort Wayne, IN	D+	67.	Witchita, KS	C+
28.	Tulsa, OK	D+	68.	Wilmington, DE	B-
29.	Corpus Christi, TX	D+	69.	Spokane,WA	B-
30.	Dallas, TX	D+	70.	San Diego, CA	B-
31.	Fort Wayne, TX	D+	71.	Riverside, CA	B-
32.	Providence, RI	D+	72.	St. Paul, MN	B-
33.	Rochester, NY	C-	73.	Grand Rapids, MI	B-
34.	Oakland, CA	C-	74.	Minneapolis, MN	B-
35.	Houston, TX	C-	75.	Austin, TX	B-
36.	Toledo, OH	C-	76.	Cheyenne, WY	B
37.	Charleston, WV	C-	77.	Aurora, CO	B
38.	Orlando, FL	C-	78.	Charlotte, NC	B
39.	New York, NY	C-	79.	Salt Lake City, UT	B
40.	Lexington, KY	C-	80.	Honolulu, HI	B
41.	San Antonio, TX	C-	81.	Manchester, NH	B
42.	Denver, CO	C-	82.	Portland, OR	B
43.	St. Petersburg, FL	C-	83.	Yonkers, NY	B
44.	Cincinnati, OH	C	84.	San Francisco, CA	B
45.	Hartford, CT	C	85.	Burlington, VT	B
46.	Fresno, CA	C	86.	Greensboro, NC	B+
47.	Boston, MA	C	87.	Des Moines, IA	B+
48.	Richmond, VA	C	88.	Omaha, NE	B+
49.	Las Vegas, NV	C	89.	Portland, ME	B+
50.	Columbia, SC	C	90.	Seattle, WA	B+

10 Best Cities for Teeth

Rank	City	Grade	Rank	City	Grade
91.	Colorado Springs, CO	A-	96.	Sioux Falls, SD	A
92.	Anchorage, AK	A-	97.	Lincoln, NE	A
93.	Raleigh, NC	A-	98.	Boise, ID	A
94.	Anaheim, CA	A-	99.	Fargo, ND	A+
95.	Virginia Beach, VA	A-	100.	San Jose, CA	A+