Briefing Detail Page
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 Dental Health: Nurturing the Health Care System’s Neglected Stepchild
Friday, July 25, 2008
The recent deaths of two children due to preventable dental conditions focused attention on the importance of improving access to dental coverage for low-income Americans. With SCHIP reauthorization on the horizon and the chance that elements of last year’s vetoed SCHIP proposal—which included provisions for dental care—may be revived, oral health issues are front and center.
The tragic deaths remind us that dental health is a vital part of maintaining overall health. Yet many low-income children and adults do not receive adequate dental treatment. While Medicaid and SCHIP provide coverage for low-income individuals who are eligible, reimbursement levels are often so low that many dentists will not participate in these programs. More than 100 million Americans have no insurance to help cover dental needs.
What is the best way to include dental health in the larger health reform debate? How should payment to dental health providers be improved? How can dental workforce shortage issues be addressed?
To address these and related questions, the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured sponsored a July 25 briefing. Panelists were: Jack Bresch, American Dental Education Association; Harry Goodman, Director of Oral Health, State of Maryland; Dr. Burton Edelstein, Children’s Dental Health Project; and William Prentice, American Dental Association.
At this briefing, The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured released a report written with the National Academy for State Health Policy titled “Filling an Urgent Need: Improving Children’s Access to Dental Care in Medicaid and SCHIP.” The report recommends effective actions states can take to improve oral health care in Medicaid and SCHIP.
| Speakers |
 Ed Howard, Alliance for Health Reform, Moderator
Diane Rowland, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Speaker
Harry Goodman, Director of Oral Health, State of Maryland, Speaker
Burton Edelstein, Children's Dental Health Project, Speaker
William Prentice, American Dental Association, Speaker
Jack Bresch, American Dental Education Association, Speaker
(Click on the camera icon to see a video of the speaker's presentation.) |
| Transcript, Event Summary and/or Webcast and Podcast |
Transcript: Dental Health: Nurturing the Health Care System’s Neglected Stepchild (Adobe Acrobat PDF), 7/25/2008
Event Summary: Dental Health: Nurturing the Health Care System’s Neglected Stepchild (Word Document), 7/25/2008
Full Webcast/Podcast: Dental Health: Nurturing the Health Care System’s Neglected Stepchild
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| The transcript, full webcast and podcast for this briefing, as well as videos of individual speakers' presentations, are provided by Kaiser Family Foundation.
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| Speaker Presentations |
Diane Rowland Presentation (PowerPoint), 7/25/2008
Harry Goodman Presentation (PowerPoint), 7/25/2008
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| Source Materials |
ADA Statement before Subcommittee on Domestic Policy (Adobe Acrobat PDF), ADA, 2/14/2008
ADEA Statement before Senate HELP Committee (Adobe Acrobat PDF), ADEA, 2/12/2008
Examining the Cost-effectiveness of Early Dental Visits (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Pediatric Dentistry, 4/1/2006
SCHIP Reauthorization: Comparison of Dental Provisions in House, Senate, and Compromise Bills (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Children's Dental Health Project, 9/27/2007
Statement of Burton Edelstein before Subcommittee on Domestic Policy (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Children's Dental Health Project, 2/14/2008
The Growing Challenges of Providing Oral Health Care Services to All Americans (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Health Affairs, 10/1/2002
Giving Policy Some Teeth: Routes to Reducing Disparities in Oral Health (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Health Affairs, 4/1/2008
Community Efforts to Expand Dental Services for Low-Income People (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Center for Studying Health System Change, 7/1/2008
Emerging Allied Dental Workforce Models: Considerations for Academic Dental Institutions (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Journal of Dental Education, 11/1/2007
Access to Affordable Dental Care: Gaps for Low-Income Adults (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 7/1/2008
The Effects of Medicaid Reimbursement Rates on Dental Care (Adobe Acrobat PDF), National Academy for State Health Policy, 3/1/2008
Dental Care Considerations for Young Children (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Special Care in Dentistry, 6/1/2002
Assessment of the Dental Public Health Infrastructure in the United States (Adobe Acrobat PDF), NIDCR, 7/1/2004
'Great day for oral health'; Hygienists get OK for working alone (Adobe Acrobat PDF), The Charleston Gazette, 3/10/2008
The Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (Adobe Acrobat PDF), American Dental Hygienists' Association, 7/1/2008
Dental Health: Nurturing the Health Care System’s Neglected Stepchild (Word Document), Word document, 7/25/2008
Sourcelist (Word Document), , 7/25/2008
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| Offsite Materials (briefing documents saved on other websites) |
For Want of a Dentist, The Washington Post, 2/28/2007
Access to Dental Services for Medicaid Children in Maryland - Dental Action Committee Report, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Office of Oral Health, 9/11/2007
The Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 5/25/2000
Health People 2010 Oral Health Chapter, Department of Health and Human Services, 11/1/2000
Kids tooth-pulling expenses are higher than cleaning costs, The Charleston Gazette, 12/24/2007
‘Our system has failed’ Medicaid mothers are refused dental care, The Charleston Gazette, 12/10/2007
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Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, co-moderator of the July 25 briefing co-sponsored by the commission. |
Harold Goodman, Maryland's oral health director, tells the story of how a young man's death spurred dramatic improvements in access to oral health services in his state. (10 min.) From the July 25 briefing cosponsored by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. |
Burton Edelstein, chairman of the Children's Dental Health Project, explains why primary prevention for oral health should begin before age 2. (10 min.) From the July 25 briefing cosponsored by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. |
William Prentice of the American Dental Association explains how paying dental care providers more could help reduce access problems for Medicaid and SCHIP patients. (8 min.) From the July 25 briefing cosponsored by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. |
Jack Bresch of the American Dental Education Association explains how dental care access problems could be relieved by master's degree-educated advanced dental hygiene practitioners. From the June 25 briefing cosponsored by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. |
Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, documents the need for more attention to dental care access problems among lower-income groups. (7 min.) From the June 25 briefing cosponsored by the commission. |
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