Obstacles to dental care abound throughout Maine
by Anne Stokes
It’s one of every parent’s worst nightmares: Watching your child suffer and not being able to help them. Unfortunately, it’s a familiar feeling to many Maine families who can’t find a dentist for their children. Despite the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s recommendation that children receive dental care before the age of one, many Maine parents come up against wait lists of a year and a half or longer.
Destiny Wade-Pelkey is one of those parents. A mother of two children, ages five and one, Wade-Pelkey has private medical insurance but relies on MaineCare because private dental coverage is too expensive. She explains that finding a pediatric dentist who accepts MaineCare and has room for new patients is nearly impossible. Her daughter was four before she saw a dentist and it was only because of an emergency referral once her dental needs had escalated. By that time, she needed extensive care, including sedation for a partial root canal because one of the cavities exposed a nerve.
“If we could have caught it a little bit sooner and had been able to get into a dentist a little quicker and easier, we may not have had to have caps, because now she has a whole bunch of silver caps on teeth at the front of her mouth,” she says. “It was pretty traumatizing to have to hold a mask over her face to put her under.”
“Setting children up with good dental care sets them up for good dental care for the rest of their life.”
Destiny Wade-Pelkey, Parent
Wade-Pelkey is still trying to find a dentist for her youngest child. The current wait list she’s on is scheduled out longer than a year.
Lack of providers is a barrier to care
Large parts of Maine are federally designated health professional shortage areas, meaning there aren’t enough providers for everyone who needs care. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, only 27.97% of Maine’s adult and pediatric dental needs are met.
Between 2019 and 2023, the state simultaneously saw a 27% decrease in MaineCare-enrolled providers and a 77% increase in the number of MaineCare members with comprehensive dental coverage. The primary cause of this drastic increase was two-fold. MaineCare enrollments increased during the pandemic years and dental coverage for adults was incorporated into MaineCare benefits in 2022.
The cost of a lack of care
The AAPD confirms that delaying care results in more extensive, painful and costly measures while preventive care like regular exams and cleanings results in children’s better overall health and nutrition. According to a 2021 report from the National Institutes of Health, dental disease and pain contributes to poor academic outcomes stemming from trouble sleeping, difficulty paying attention in class and absenteeism.
While consistent brushing and flossing habits are vital to oral health, they are often not enough to keep people healthy. Dental disease is progressive, chronic and infectious: Once decay has begun, it will get worse and no amount of brushing will heal it. Caused in part by bacteria, dental disease requires professional care, particularly for children in whose small mouths infections progress quickly.
Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine
Ensuring children have access to care early and often solves many problems before they start. The Children’s Oral Health Network (COHN) of Maine is working to make systemic changes to put such care within reach of all families. COHN is made up of over a hundred organizations and individuals working on collaborative action towards a shared vision: a Maine where all children grow up free from preventable dental disease. One of their many efforts includes fostering programs that place dental health providers where children already are, such as pediatricians offices and schools, ensuring more families can access dental health services. It’s just the type of program that got Wade-Pelkey’s daughter in to see a dentist.
“Setting children up with good dental care sets them up for good dental care for the rest of their life,” Wade-Pelkey says. “If you can’t set up a child to get into a dentist when it’s time for them to get in, it sets the tone for their care throughout their entire life.”
To find out more about the work being done in Maine by Children’s Oral Health Network, visit www.mainecohn.org.
