In an audio report collaboration between California Healthline and KQED, David Gorn talks with dentists and experts about access to dental care and the challenges facing Denti-Cal, California’s dental care program for people with low incomes. Gorn visits Free Dental Day in Sacramento, where 300 dentists participated and more than 2,000 people waited for care, including some who have dental coverage through Denti-Cal but have had trouble making appointments. Dentists and experts say that while the number of people in Denti-Cal has grown, reimbursements have not kept pace, making providers less likely to accept new patients covered y the program.
The report includes comments from:
- James Stephens, former chair of the California Dental Association;
- George Maranon, an oral surgeon from Encino; and
- Elizabeth Mertz, an assistant professor at the UCSF School of Dentistry (Gorn, California Healthline, 5/7).