By Nadia Ramlagan
West Virginia’s adult Medicaid dental benefit plays a critical role in helping to reduce oral health disparities, experts said.
Expansion changes including the dental benefit went into effect in 2021.
Gina Sharps, executive director of the West Virginia Oral Health Coalition, said given the state’s severe shortage of dental providers, it will take more time to see the benefit’s effect. She added tooth decay and gum disease are linked to a host of chronic diseases.
“When we look at the science, there are clear associations between oral health in various systemic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease,” Sharps pointed out. “Even down to 8% of cases of infective endocarditis are caused by oral infections.”
According to a 2023 report, more than 24% of dental practices in West Virginia were no longer accepting new patients, or average wait times for the first available appointment were months away.
Sharps added before the Medicaid adult dental benefit, folks would resort to using the emergency room if they had a toothache and end up saddled with medical debt.
“You would go from a from an $87 toothache to an $1,800 toothache,” Sharps observed.
Organizations like the West Virginia Dental Hygienist Association want to expand the scope of practice for hygienists to help fill care gaps as the state continues to lose providers. Sharps said policymakers could take action to increase the odds people with tooth trouble can see a dentist.
“Fifty-two out of our 55 counties are Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas,” Sharps explained. “Which means they are areas designated as having shortages of dentists.”
According to the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, in 2021, the nation’s poorest households paid more than seven times more for dental care than higher-income and insured households.