The Community Need: Access to Dental Care

The heart of the issue is the lack of access to dental care in rural and parts of urban Illinois. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, about 26% of the poor or near-poor families have seen a dentist in any year compared to 40% of middle income families and 54% of high income families nationally.

By definition, underserved areas have an insufficient supply of dentists to meet the needs of either the general population of the area, or a specific population such as low income patients or persons on Medicaid. Location presents a major challenge as patients in some areas of Illinois may live many miles from the nearest dentist or dental clinic.

There are other barriers which prevent dentists from practicing in underserved rural and urban areas where more patients rely on Medicaid coverage. We need to move past these barriers to permit dentists to treat people with the care they so urgently need.

Barriers to Dental Care Access

• The dental Medicaid program, which is supposed to provide health care to disadvantaged Americans, has been chronically under funded for over 30 years in Illinois.
• It's not just about the money. Patients covered under public programs still face hurdles, such as transportation and time lost from work.
• The lack of dentists and public clinics in certain areas makes it difficult to obtain dental care.

Illinois dentists are the leading advocates for improving access to dental care, but we can't do it alone. We all have a stake in this issue. Government, business leaders, insurance companies, health care professionals, patient advocacy groups and individuals all need to work together to improve access to dental care.

The Bridge to Healthy Smiles Coalition is working with the state legislature to heighten awareness of this critical health problem and ultimately break down these barriers to dental care in our state.

Undeniable Link Between Dental Health and Overall Health

According to Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, oral diseases and conditions are associated with other health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. The correlation between dental health and overall health is undeniable.

The Surgeon General‘s Report highlighted that tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood. When not prevented or treated, the effect can be catastrophic on young lives.

Dental pain results in lost time in school, the inability to eat, sleep deprivation and lost study time and the effects worsen over time. Lower grades, low self-esteem and a decreased likelihood of securing employment because of bad oral health are all very real outcomes.

In the extreme cases, the results can be deadly. In fact, a child died in 2007 from an untreated dental infection. This was an unnecessary death that could have been prevented if his family had been able to secure proper dental care.

The Bridge to Healthy Smiles campaign is about increasing access to dental care, especially for those who cannot afford it. Nearly 2,300 Illinois dentists are enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program that provides free treatment to the poor. Many other Illinoisans are among the low income, working poor who cannot afford dental treatment. In order to close the access to care gap, the Bridge to Healthy Smiles program strives to significantly increase the number of participating dentists who treat these patients.

How to Make Dental Care Available to All

Everyone deserves access to dental care regardless of economic status. The Bridge to Healthy Smiles plan supports several initiatives and key legislation designed to make dental care available to every citizen, from the smallest towns to the city of Chicago.