DHHS: adult dental benefit expanding but specialist access remains limited

The Health and Human Services Oversight Committee received an update June 26 on the state’s adult Medicaid dental benefit. Barry Chang, Medicaid Dental Director, told the committee the program has expanded provider participation and mobile services since 2023, but shortages of specialists and appointment availability remain concerns.

Why it matters: New or returning access to dental care for Medicaid adults can reduce preventable emergency-department visits and improve oral-health outcomes, but specialists and appointment capacity affect how quickly members can get needed procedures.

What DHHS reported: Chang said the adult dental network includes 217 unique providers (up from 79 in 2023) and that the mobile program has grown to two vans covering roughly 15 sites across 10 counties; mobile events rose from about 100 to 439 and the vans have served about 5,500 members. Department slides showed more than 30,000 unique adults have used the dental benefit since program start.

DHHS analysis of emergency-department utilization showed a decline in dental-related ED visits after introduction of the adult dental benefit, although broader avoidable-ED and overall ED utilization trends among Medicaid adults were mixed. The department described outreach to EDs to route nontraumatic dental patients to DentaQuest care management and noted a teledentistry line staffed 24/7 by two full-time dentists.

Remaining issues and recruitment strategies: Committee members asked whether the current network is adequate. DHHS said access has improved about 22% year-over-year for patient access rates but specialists—particularly oral surgeons—remain hard to recruit (oral surgeons fell from 19 to 15). The department said it has increased the fee schedule for preventive and restorative services by 5% and raised dental lab fees to better reflect market costs. Longer-term workforce strategies include building residency capacity, loan-repayment incentives, housing assistance, and proposals for a dental hub or center as part of rural-health transformation grants.

Quotes: "At the current time, we have 217 unique providers... and we have served about 5,500 members [via mobile events]," Barry Chang said. "We have increased the fee schedule on preventive and restorative services by 5%."

Ending: DHHS said it will continue targeted recruitment of specialists, examine churn and appointment availability, and report back with more precise data on network churn and specialist capacity.