PEW dentist shortage

The Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard on Child Health System Performance recognizes the role of new dental providers in improving the healthcare system. The scorecard ranks states on 20 health indicators for children, including dental care access.

The authors note that “many children live with oral health problems that could be addressed with timely, affordable access” to care. The Fund states that Alaska’s Dental Health Aide Therapists offer “a model of how greater use of midlevel dental providers can improve children’s access to dental services and the quality of care.” The Fund adds that “states will need to address the supply of dental care, likely with workforce innovations to meet children’s preventive and other oral health needs.”

The Fund’s call for states to address the supply of dental providers coincides with PEW’s new issue brief showing the scope of the problem. The brief shares disturbing data: more than 31 million people are “unserved” — meaning they have no reasonable expectation of finding a dentist in or near their community. PEW’s brief includes a color-coded map revealing the severity of the dentist shortages in all 50 states. Click here to access this issue brief.