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lives, compared to only seven percent of middle- and higher-income adults. • Only six percent of those low-income adults who went to the ER reported that the problem was solved in the ER. • Even though the Affordable Care Act offers little relief for adult Americans who lack dental coverage, 40% of lowerincome adults believe that health care reform will help them obtain dental care. (Editor’s Note: A recent ADA analysis finds that only an estimated 5.3 million adults are expected to gain extensive oral health coverage as a result of the ACA, almost all due to Medicaid expansion in the few states that provide extensive dental benefits. In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal has stated he has no plans for a Medicaid expansion due to state budget constraints. Currently, adult dental Medicaid benefits in the state are limited to emergency extractions. Pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid have some additional services available.) The 2013 Harris Interactive survey’s findings echo prior research from multiple
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sources. According to a new ADA Health Policy Resources Center analysis of 2010 MEPS and U.S. Census data, 181 million Americans did not visit the dentist in 2010. Nearly half of adults over age 30 suffer from some form of gum disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and nearly one in four children under the age of five already have cavities.
What Does Action for Dental Health Mean for Georgia? Now that the ADA has launched this national campaign, every state will be asked to seek progress in the areas targeted for improvement. The GDA has already made progress in many of the target areas, and will consider what direction to take in others. “We are proud that 93 percent of Georgia’s community water systems are currently fluoridated,” said GDA President Sidney Tourial. “The GDA Committee for Oral Health in Institutional Settings is pursuing funding now to reach out to every nursing home facility in Georgia and give facility staff tools they can use to provide daily oral health care to
residents and know when to seek professional dental care. We are also considering how we might develop partnerships and work to divert patients with dental pain away from Georgia emergency departments. “Meanwhile, the GDA remains a consistent, effective advocate for Medicaid doctors and patients at the state level,” Dr. Tourial continued. “Our most recent Give Kids a Smile Day featured 31 events statewide and reached thousands of children. Our GDA workforce census stands as proof that we have sufficient dentists to care for Georgians’ oral health and don’t need mid-level providers. “The GDA will need to take a hard look at what additional resources we can allocate to tackle additional targets,” Dr. Tourial continued. “In the short term, we are glad that the ADA can bring important dental issues to the forefront at a national level. That allows us to capitalize on this initiative and continue conversations at the state and local level and hopefully continue to make progress in areas that make sense for Georgia.”
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GDA ACTION JUNE 2013