Dental Health Access

National Organizations

Academy of General Dentistry - Read an Academy of General Dentistry White Paper on Increasing Access to and Utilization of Oral Health Care Services.

The Childrens' Dental Health Project - Founded in 1997, the Children's Dental Health Project is a national non-profit organization with the vision of achieving equity in children's oral health.

Mid-Atlantic Organizations

Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) - has developed an Oral Health Resource Guide to help parents, counselors, health care providers and others who care for children access oral health care resources in Philadelphia. The guide lists over 50 practices in the city that provide services to children. Resource guides are printed in both English and Spanish.

Delaware Medicaid and Medical Assistance has compiled a List of Dentists enrolled in the Delaware Medicaid and CHIP Programs. These programs offer comprehensive dental care for children and adolescents.

Florida Organizations

Public Health Dental Program leads the Department of Health's efforts to improve and maintain the oral health of Florida's citizens by promoting and developing quality, cost-effective community and school-based preventive, educational and treatment programs which emphasize elimination of oral health disparities.

Related Articles & Video

Slate article: "Hidden Rations: Why Poor Kids Can't Find a Dentist" - article based on a true story of a child who could not access dental care, by Anne Alstott, Jacquin D. Bierman professor at the Yale Law School. 

Pediatrics Article: - "Preventive Dental Care for Children in the United States: A National Perspective" - by Lewis et al, free on-line article based on the National Survey of Children's Health in Pediatrics. 

Legislation

The Kaiser Family Foundation Children's Oral Health Benefits Brief - This brief examines a new requirement under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 that state CHIP programs cover comprehensive dental benefits. The reauthorization law also allows states with separate CHIP programs to offer a dental-only plan for children who have other health insurance but lack adequate dental benefits. Other oral health improvements in the law include education for new parents, better access to benefit and provider information and enhanced reporting on the quality of dental health services in Medicaid and CHIP.