As the Maine Legislature approaches the end of its annual session, the problem of access to dental care remains unsolved. When lawmakers return to Augusta next year, this should be one of the top items on their “to do” list.
Why?
Consider the disturbing reality.
A 2011 poll revealed that three out of 10 Mainers had put off a dental appointment because of the cost. One out of five third-graders in our state has untreated decay. Toothaches and other problems have a serious impact on kids — missing days of school and affecting their overall health. In addition, these problems pull their parents away from the workplace.
Children with unhealthy teeth grow into adults with unhealthy teeth, and this affects their ability to get and keep a good job. Parents have a responsibility to do all they reasonably can to secure dental care for their kids, but this problem isn’t one we can lay at the feet of parents. In too many instances, families are finding themselves unable to afford or unable to find a dentist to care for their children.
Even when low-income kids happen to live near a dental office, they often find that the dentists working there do not accept, or accept only a very small percentage of MaineCare-enrolled patients. All of those factors help to explain why only 45 percent of the children enrolled in MaineCare saw a dentist in 2010.
However, this isn’t just a children’s issue. Many adults also struggle to gain access to care. Data released this month by federal health officials show that 281,000 Maine residents are living in an area of our state with a shortage of dentists.
The access challenge is prompting many desperate Mainers to seek care in a surprising place: hospitals. A 2010 report showed that dental problems were the leading reason for visits to hospital emergency rooms by MaineCare enrollees and uninsured people between the ages of 15 and 44.
Despite all of the evidence that illustrates our state’s major access problem, the president-elect of the Maine Dental Association recently wrote that “there is no crisis” in our dental care system. Those who believe the problem is serious, she stated, remind her of Henny Penny, a fairy-tale character “who frightened everyone with a tale of impending doom.”
Yet there is nothing fictional about Maine’s access problem. The people who are paying the price for Maine’s access problem are real. In fact, I have met several of them.
Fortunately, there is hope.
The state Legislature approved a study last year to examine Maine’s access problem and how changes in the dental workforce might affect it. The last phase of that study will be completed in August. The findings from this study will provide a road map that guides legislators to smart policy changes.
Once we have all of the data from this study, no organization or special interest should block or delay the kinds of changes that we need. We owe it to the people of Maine to take this issue seriously, roll up our sleeves and support the policy changes necessary to address our oral health access problem.
We should all keep an open mind about the range of solutions that can help Maine improve its oral health. This problem deserves more than comforting words; it requires action.
Charlie Dingman lives in Leeds and is the board president of Maine Equal Justice Partners, a statewide, nonprofit civil legal aid organization.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
