While dental care often is seen as routine, the poor often go without any care for years or even decades.
One study from Texas A&M University found that treatment for preventable dental conditions represents up to 2.5% of emergency room visits, at a cost of $2 billion a year. An additional $45 billion is lost year in productivity in the United States annually from untreated oral disease, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is an increasing understanding that oral health is inseparable from health care,” said New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Joe Schapiro, who was the prime sponsor of the expanded dental benefits bill. “The amount of money spent on other health care problems that are related to oral health and the amount of money spent on emergency care when people can’t get any kind of preventive or restorative care is not only unfortunate for those people’s health but cost a tremendous amount of money.
Even as states add dental coverage, millions of beneficiaries are being culled from the Medicaid program nationwide as part of There are also plenty of hiccups in states that have expanded care, including Tennessee. Among the biggest is that too few dentists, especially in rural areas, are taking Medicaid patients, resulting in long waiting times and hours-long drives in search of care. Only about 15% of dentist take Medicaid in New Hampshire, 24% in Tennessee and 27% in Virginia.
Tennessee Family Dental, which has four clinics in the state, has experienced overwhelming demand from Medicaid patients. Dr. Ryan O’Neill, a dentist who owns the business, said he got some 300 calls on the first day and that some of his patients have traveled from 30 minutes away or more.
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