Expand Medicaid dental benefits to save lives
It was the tragic story of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver — a boy who died from an untreated tooth infection that spread lethal bacteria to his brain — that first compelled Maryland advocates to fight to expand dental coverage to low-income children in 2007.
Now, more than 15 years later, over 800,000 Maryland Medicaid adult beneficiaries finally gained access to comprehensive dental coverage, effective Jan. 1, 2023.
This is a significant victory for Maryland and the many low-income adults and people with disabilities who rely on Medicaid for critical health care services. And it should serve as a call to action for other states to follow suit and finally make access to oral health care more equitable for the millions of people across our country who currently lack this coverage.
According to data from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health’s State of Oral Health Equity in America survey, 77 million adults in the United States lack dental benefits. This lack of coverage disproportionately impacts Black and Latino people, tribal and rural communities, and people with disabilities.
While most states provide at least emergency adult dental benefits (defined differently by states), many do not offer dental care beyond emergency procedures or have no coverage at all. This leaves adult Medicaid enrollees needing dental care with the untenable choice of going to an emergency department or suffering through pain.
Lack of dental insurance is a major contributing factor to the disparities in overall health outcomes, making Medicaid adult dental benefits expansion a powerful lever in achieving equity in oral and overall health.
Further, Medicaid-eligible adults experience significantly higher rates of diseases linked to poor oral health, such as cardiovascular diseases, oral cancers and substance-use disorders, compounded by a lack of access to necessary preventive oral health care.
The expansion of Medicaid coverage has undeniable economic benefits. Nearly 80% of emergency department dental visits, which cost the health care system $2.1 billion annually, are preventable and addressable in a dental office.
In Maryland, a CareQuest Institute study revealed that the state was spending $10 million per year for these visits for Medicaid patients, which are costly, ineffective and largely avoidable with accessible preventive dental care.
By extending additional dental benefits to adults on Medicaid, Maryland policymakers recognized that oral health impacts overall health, wellness and economic security.
This is critical step toward improving access to care and creating an equitable oral health system for the people of Maryland — a model which we hope can be replicated nationwide.