Mariam Pervaiz

Plate 1 · Complete tooth loss · St. Louis City

Rates range from ~5% to over 50% across city tracts. Darkest red concentrations are in the north — the same neighborhoods with the fewest Medicaid-accepting clinics.

Plate 2 · Dental visit rates · St. Louis City

Visit rates range from 32% in the north to nearly 74% in the central and southern tracts where most clinics are located. When clinics are closer, people actually go.

Plate 3 · Hot spot analysis — tooth loss · St. Louis City

Getis-Ord Gi* confirms northern clusters are statistically significant hot spots at 99% confidence. The southwest forms an equally significant cold spot.

Plate 4 · Hot spot analysis — dental visits · St. Louis City

A near mirror image of the tooth loss map. High-visit hot spots in the southwest, cold spots of low utilization in the north. The same divide, confirmed twice.

Plate 5 · Food insecurity · St. Louis City

Rates reach 63% in the hardest-hit tracts — the same northern neighborhoods with the highest tooth loss. Poor nutrition weakens teeth, and food-insecure households are the least likely to prioritize dental care.

Plate 6 · Housing insecurity · St. Louis City

Housing insecurity reaches nearly 50% in northern tracts. When people are struggling to keep a roof overhead, dental care is the first thing to go.

Plate 7 · Diabetes prevalence · St. Louis City

Rates reach 30% in the most affected tracts. Diabetes and gum disease directly worsen each other — and the tracts with the highest diabetes burden have the least dental access.

Plate 8 · Disability rates · St. Louis City

Disability rates reach nearly 60% in northern tracts — making travel to a distant clinic even harder when no nearby option exists.

Plate 12 · Tooth loss — St. Louis City & County

Rates up to 50% in North City continue right into North County. South and West County stay light, with rates as low as 3–5%. A tenfold gap within one region.

Plate 13 · Skyline of health inequity — 3D view

Height = tooth loss. Color = overall vulnerability. The tallest towers rise in North St. Louis — the same neighborhoods, the same divide, visible from any angle.

Plate 16 · Poverty concentration & clinic buffers

About 24% of St. Louis City residents live below the federal poverty line. The highest-poverty tracts cluster in the north — the places with the most financial need have the least affordable dental care nearby.

Plate 17 · Poverty & older adults combined

Both layers at once. The north has high poverty and high elderly population — and no Medicaid-accepting clinic within 1 mile. The mismatch is the core finding of this project.

Plate 18 · Combined vulnerability heat map

A composite score (1–5) combining poverty and elderly population per census tract. Tracts scoring 5 are in the north and southeastern riverfront — both completely outside any clinic buffer.

Plate 19 · Clinic distance to nearest bus stop

Most clinics are within a 1–3 minute walk of a bus stop. But one is 0.31 miles away — about 9 minutes on foot — a real barrier for older adults with mobility issues.