California Lagging in Percentage of Children Who Receive Regular Dental Screenings, Care

In a California Healthline Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed the challenges of improving pediatric dental care in California.

According to CMS, California has one of the nation’s lowest rates of kids who receive dental care. Experts say that trend could stem from a lack of awareness among parents, as well as the state’s low reimbursement rates for pediatric dentists who treat beneficiaries of Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Jim Crall, chair of the division of public health and community dentistry at UCLA School of Dentistry;
Parvathi Pokala, a pediatric dentist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego;
Paul Reggiardo, a pediatric dentist in Huntington Beach; and
Lindsey Robinson, president of the California Dental Association (Goldberg, California Healthline, 2/13).

The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.

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<h1>California Lagging in Percentage of Children Who Receive Regular Dental Screenings, Care</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2013-02-13T00:00:00-08:00">
			February 13, 2013		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a <i>California Healthline</i> Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed the challenges of improving pediatric dental care in California.</p><p>According to CMS, California has one of the nation’s lowest rates of kids who receive dental care. Experts say that trend could stem from a lack of awareness among parents, as well as the state’s low reimbursement rates for pediatric dentists who treat beneficiaries of Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.</p><p>The Special Report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Jim Crall, chair of the division of public health and community dentistry at UCLA School of Dentistry;</li><li>Parvathi Pokala, a pediatric dentist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego;</li><li>Paul Reggiardo, a pediatric dentist in Huntington Beach; and</li><li>Lindsey Robinson, president of the California Dental Association (Goldberg, <i>California Healthline</i>, 2/13).</li></ul><p>The complete transcript of this Special Report is <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/02/chlspecialreporttranscript021313.pdf">available as a PDF</a>.</p><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us/">KFF</a>.</p><h3>USE OUR CONTENT</h3><p>This story can be republished for free (<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/california-lagging-in-percentage-of-children-who-receive-regular-dental-screenings-care/view/republish/">details</a>).</p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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