Dr. Norm Palm

The Michigan Dental Association (MDA) applauds state lawmakers and the governor for making sure thousands of disadvantaged Michigan citizens have access to dental care.

Unfortunately, it’s a short-term fix to a long-term problem - a one-time infusion of federal money that won’t be there next year. We should begin thinking now about where Michigan will find the necessary funding in the future.

The urgent need to identify such funding is highlighted in the groundbreaking report released in August by the MDA’s Access to Oral Health Care Work Group. The report, “A United Voice for Oral Health,” (see www.smilemichigan.com) focuses on the alarming state of dental health in Michigan and the need to educate both the general public and policymakers about the vital link between oral health and overall health.

Work group members included Peter Polverini, dean of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, and Mert Aksu, dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry.

Too many Michigan policymakers wrongly believe that cutting dental benefits will somehow save the state money - even when the facts prove otherwise.

In the six months following the state’s 2003 cut in Medicaid adult dental benefits, dental-related hospital emergency room visits increased by more than 11 percent. Obviously, people who need oral health care don’t just go away when funding is cut, they end up in expensive ERs. Even worse, if left untreated oral disease can be associated with other health problems like diabetes, heart disease, even cancer. The irony is that treating these conditions is much more expensive than providing basic preventive dental care.

The MDA report outlines 17 recommendations for making oral health care more accessible, including a call for Michigan to identify a source of funding to make dental care readily available to low-income children and adults. It also supports making adult dental care a mandatory Medicaid service, so state lawmakers don’t target it when money is tight.

Other key findings focus on the need for:

• Prevention services such as the Head Start Dental Home Initiative, which ensures disadvantaged children see a dentist regularly.

• Partnerships between dentists and other health professionals, including development of an oral health curriculum for physician residency programs.

• Education efforts, including expanded use of social media, to educate the public and policymakers on the link between oral health and physical health.

The findings of the 30-member work group represent the thinking of the broadest group yet assembled to tackle the access issue - physicians, nurses, insurers, public health officials, dentists, dental hygienists and others.

They know it will take a united effort to address the problem and that solving it begins with well-founded information: Failure to treat dental disease, which is almost entirely preventable, can trigger much more severe health problems.

In both human and fiscal terms, it simply makes good sense to provide dental care for disadvantaged children and adults in Michigan.

Dr. Norm Palm is an oral surgeon in Grand Rapids and chairperson of the Michigan Access to Oral Health Care Work Group, convened by the Michigan Dental Association.