Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Poor Shore children face limited dental care | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times

Maryland is 94% fluoridated: "Despite great strides in the effort to improve dental access for Maryland's poorest children, few dentists accept Medicaid patients on the Lower Shore.

'There is a great need for these people to be seen. I'm only scratching the surface,' said Arvind Jain, owner of Delaware Maryland Dental of Salisbury."

"We are struggling to treat adults without insurance," Chandi said. "It is a nightmare. We have patients calling. They want, at least, pain medicine."

"Maryland focused on improving access for low-income children to dentists after the death of Deamonte Driver in 2007. The 12-year-old Prince George's County boy died after an untreated cavity caused a fatal brain infection. Driver would have been saved if dentists performed a routine $80 tooth extraction."