Wis. dentists donate $719,000 in care to 6,250 kids

Feb 2, 2010

The Wisconsin Dental Association (WDA) estimates that 350 dentists, along with 934 dental team members, dental hygienists and assisting students, faculty, and community advocates, in that state will volunteer their time and skills to care for 6,253 low-income children starting February 5.

The association estimated that this contribution, part of the eighth annual Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) children's dental access program, is worth $719,000.

Statewide, $3.4 million has been provided in charitable dental care to 23,000 low-income children since 2003 when the association joined with the ADA in launching GKAS during February's National Children's Dental Health Month.

GKAS 2010 will be marked nationwide by 12,780 dentists joining with 36,490 other volunteers to provide care to 322,885 children at 1,983 events, the WDA said. These outreach projects vary from large-scale dental clinics delivering exams, cleanings, and fluoride treatments to individual dentists providing fillings, extractions, and crowns to underserved children in their private practices, to other dental professionals offering screenings and educational programs in various locations.

In Wisconsin, the WDA and member dentists work with the state's Department of Health Services, local government agencies, public schools, Head Start, Boys & Girls Clubs, and other youth and community organizations to identify low-income children with the greatest need for dental treatment.

GKAS activities are supported by significant corporate donations from Colgate-Palmolive, Dexis Digital X-ray, and Henry Schein Dental. WDA Professional Services Division's The Dental Record makes children's dental record forms available to Wisconsin GKAS events.

According to a February 2005 Children's Dental Health Project report, low-income children who have their first dental exam by age 1 are less likely to visit emergency rooms for oral health problems or require restorative care. In addition, 5-year-olds who had their first dental visit at age 1 have incurred oral health-related costs at a rate about one-half that of their peers who don't see a dentist until age 5.

The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for 20% of all healthcare funds spent on children to be directed at improving and maintaining their oral health, the WDA said.

In Wisconsin, about 1 million low-income children and adults, or 20% of state residents, are beneficiaries of Medicaid or the state's BadgerCare and BadgerCare Plus programs at some point during a given year, according to the WDA.

State fee-for-service data for fiscal year 2006 (most recent available) shows that while medical assistance patients received $74 million in dental care, the state and federal governments paid just $32 million or 44% of those charges, meaning dentists donated the remaining $42 million in care, more than the Wisconsin and U.S. governments combined paid for, the ADA said.

"GKAS and nonreimbursed MA care are just two examples of how Wisconsin dentists do serve their communities and make a difference for underserved children and adults through charitable care in their private practices and by volunteering at community dental clinics, the WDA Mission of Mercy and other outreach programs," explained WDA President Kent Vandehaar, D.D.S., of Chippewa Falls, WI.

"However, charity alone is not a sufficient oral healthcare delivery system," Dr. Vandehaar said. "Low-income patients suffer for various reasons: failure to care for their own oral health; inability to find a dental office for routine care, because small businesses can't absorb too much income loss; and, lawmakers' failure to sufficiently fund the dental care they have promised."

Despite access-to-care concerns for the underserved and medical assistance population, the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 73.2% of Wisconsin residents had their teeth cleaned by a dental professional in 2008 compared to 71.3% nationally.

And USA Today ranks Wisconsin seventh in the nation in percentage of residents who have seen a dentist in the last 12 months.