Medicaid dental patients struggled to find a provider

A significant number of patients at this year’s Mountains of Mercy Dental Clinic in Wise, Virginia, had Medicaid insurance but struggled to find a dentist who would accept it, a post-event study shows.

The 23rd annual clinic — held in July at the University of Virginia College at Wise — treated about 500 patients. Organizers with the Virginia Dental Association Foundation conducted the event’s second patient survey, which received about 176 responses and offered some surprising trends.

Of those who responded, 132 patients said they had insurance. Eighty-eight of them (67%) had Medicaid coverage, but 68 of 88 (79%) had not found a dentist who would accept it, the survey showed.

“What blew our mind was the number of people who had Medicaid and weren’t able to find a provider,” said Tara Quinn, the foundation’s executive director. “I’ll be curious to see what that looks like a year after the Health Wagon (dental) clinic opens in Wise and how much they’ll be able to do with that population. Also Appalachian Highlands Dental Center in Abingdon and they are going through an expansion right now.”

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Officials at the Abingdon clinic recently said their work influenced turnout this year at the massive event, and Quinn agrees.

“The Abingdon clinic has had a big impact on the area, obviously, as they are planning to increase the size of their clinic,” she said. “When this program started, almost 25 years ago, it was a goal to bridge the gap until there were brick and mortar clinics where people could get dental care in their communities.

“Hopefully the number of people who have Medicaid coverage can find a provider that makes that number smaller, even a year from now. Next year the Wise (Health Wagon) clinic will be taking dental student rotations from Tennessee coming next fall,” Quinn said.

Another statistic that stood out was that 69% of respondents said they had never sought treatment at the event before, despite its longevity in the region. Fifty-four respondents said they had been to previous clinics, but 120 had not.

“I was surprised by that,” Quinn said. “With the pandemic, we didn’t have the clinic in 2020 and 2021 and that kind of broke the cycle for a lot of people for their annual dental visit. I’m curious, were there people who attended earlier who weren’t aware that we were back? I do not know.”

Organizers held a smaller-scale event in 2022, but attendance was low, in part because of concerns about COVID-19, she said.

Another surprising statistic was the plurality of all types of procedures offered: 37% were cleanings compared to 29% each for fillings and extractions. This was in stark contrast to previous years and something Quinn described as a “ray of sunshine”.

“When we first started, most people came for takeout. Maybe people weren’t able to keep the teeth they have, but now they’re seeing it as a viable option. That’s huge given the number of extractions we would have and the challenges that come with that – whether it’s the whole mouth, whether people have access to dentures or implants and invest the time in restoring their teeth,” Quinn said. “It’s really an investment in their overall health, so we’re happy to see that happen.”

The vast majority – 99% – were satisfied with the dental service they received from the volunteer dentists, dental technicians and students working at the event.

Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center will host a mini Missions of Mercy clinic Oct. 19-30 at the facility in Abingdon.

The 2024 Wise County Missions of Mercy clinic is scheduled for July 19-20.

dmcgee@bristolnews.com

Twitter: @DMcGeeBHC

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