By DR. SEPI TAGHVAEI and ZACH FRIEND
We see it daily … the effects of limited access to dental care in our community: adults with abscessed teeth and swollen faces that end up in emergency rooms and county clinics, children who are missing school because of dental pain, seniors who are losing weight due to poor dental health, teenagers who have low self-esteem because of dental decay.
Our low-income neighbors are much more likely to experience these health issues, a fact that was reaffirmed by the first-ever dental needs assessment study that Dientes Community Dental Care sponsored in 2016: Out of 80,000 Santa Cruz County residents in Santa Cruz County on Medi-Cal (Denti-Cal), fewer than one-third could access the dentist.
Why? Denti-Cal reimbursement rates are so low that private practitioners are not willing to accept these patients and safety net clinics like Dientes and Salud Para La Gente are at full-capacity. This leaves the most vulnerable segment of our population with no option but to forgo routine dental care, leading to more severe problems.
The Oral Health Access Steering Committee was formed in June 2016 as a response to the findings of the needs assessment. Stakeholders from various sectors of our community were brought together to identify proactive approaches in tackling this critical issue. Representatives from the medical and dental fields, government officials, social services representatives, and early childhood and education experts all came together to create Santa Cruz County’s Oral Health Strategic Plan. The plan utilized three approaches to affect change: launching a “first tooth, first birthday, first dental visit” campaign; promoting kindergarten dental checkups in all Santa Cruz County schools; and expanding treatment and prevention capacity.
Since its inception in 2016, the Oral Health Access Steering Committee members have remained dedicated to the cause of improving the oral health of our community. We have taken steps to implement our strategic plan and we’ve made a lot of progress, some of which is detailed in our 2018 Report Card, including:
• 3 percent increase in dental visits for children aged 0-3
• 50 percent reduction in the number of kids who have never been to the dentist
• 270 percent increase in number of children aged 0-5 who had a fluoride varnish application during their medical checkup
• 30 percent growth in dental visits in the safety net dental clinics (Dientes and Salud)
Despite the progress, our work must continue. If we are to make oral health prevention more common than treatment, if we are to ensure that low income children have the same access to dental care as other children, if we are to help seniors — most of whom are on limited income — be able to eat, smile and engage in society, if we are to help low income adults get routine dental care instead of ending up in the emergency room or county clinics, if we are to educate pregnant moms about the importance of good oral health during pregnancy and dental checkups for their babies by age 1, we must continue.
Poor oral health is a crisis for the most vulnerable members of our community, and although we have made some progress, we need to continue to push for more upstream solutions, more funding for oral health education and prevention, more empowerment in our low-income community, and more collaborative partnerships such as the Oral Health Access steering committee.
We can meet these challenges with your help. Please visit oralhealthscc.org/ to share your ideas on how to ensure that everyone — regardless of circumstance — has access to the dental care they need and deserve.
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Dr. Sepi Taghvaei is chief dental officer of Dientes Community Dental Care and Zach Friend is a Santa Cruz County supervisor. They are the co-chairs of Oral Health Access Santa Cruz County, whose mission is to improve the oral health of Santa Cruz County. Their opinions are their own and not necessarily those of the Pajaronian.
