Help dentists reach rural, underserved communities

For more than 130 years, the Florida Dental Association has served as the leading voice advocating for optimum oral health of all Floridians.

Our membership includes more than 7,500 dentists who represent the best in our profession, but we know that many Floridians do not have access to routine dental care. This is a problem we are committed to solving. More than 700,000 Floridians live in 30 rural counties, and 29 of these counties lack sufficient access to a dentist. This leaves them in jeopardy for a variety of health conditions and related complications, as well as poses risks to existing medical conditions that may be worsened by untreated dental disease.

Tooth decay, for example, is the most chronic childhood disease, resulting in pain that leads to missed schooldays and lower GPAs. Adults, meanwhile, can experience anxiety, have trouble chewing and face self-esteem issues and difficulty interviewing for a job due to the condition of their teeth.

The stakes are high, but there is an immediate solution for relief. Recently introduced legislation would improve oral health in rural and underserved areas of Florida by establishing a dental student loan repayment program, providing support for dentists to practice where they are needed most.

Dentists are uniquely qualified to meet the needs of rural Floridians. After completing more than eight years of education and training, dentists are experts on how heart, kidney, gum and lung disease, as well as cancer and medications, affect the mouth and teeth and vice versa. They are also often on the frontlines of identifying a variety of undiagnosed conditions.

As a dentist in Broward County, I treat many patients who are battling complex health issues. Some are malnourished because they can’t chew properly. Others must have dental and gum disease treated before they can begin treatment for throat or oral cancer. My training allows me to treat patients’ oral conditions and contribute to their overall health.

Florida does not have a shortage of dentists — there are more than 13,000 dentists with active licenses, and the state’s dental schools graduated 316 dentists in 2017. However, many graduate with student loan debt ranging from $250,000 to $400,000, and with payments as high as $4,000 a month, they must practice in locations where they can earn enough to cover their debt.

Introduced by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, HB 369 and SB 764 would establish a dental student loan repayment program for eligible dentists who practice in a public health program that serves Medicaid recipients and low-income patients in rural and underserved areas. Participating dentists may receive up to $50,000 a year to help repay their loans.

Dentists would spend up to five years in the program, during which they may develop ties to the community and eventually establish their own practice, in turn, creating more jobs for those communities. This legislation would also lessen the burden of health-care costs. In 2014, more than 163,000 Floridians visited an emergency department for a dental-related issue at a cost of more than $234 million.

Florida is one of only five states without some type of loan assistance for dentists. Now is the time to address this and help bring immediate care and relief to Florida’s rural and underserved communities.