When Families First, a low-income health clinic on the Seacoast, opened a brand new dental facility in Portsmouth a month ago, they didn?t have a single patient. Today, they?re booked through April.
The demand for affordable dental care has drawn increasing attention around the state.
Recent efforts to collect and analyze data show that the lack of preventive care is costing the public hundreds of thousands of dollars.
NHPR?s Raquel Maria Dillon has more.
Last month, volunteer dentists and dental hygienists set up a free, one-day clinic at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord.
For 8-year-old Amber Fields, this was a chance to show off her loose baby teeth.
AMBER :08 this one this one, this one, this one and this one.
DENTIST but none are hurting you?
AMBER No, Except for this one because my gum hurts.
A visit to the dentist is not something Amber can count on. Her mother, Angel Fields, says she knows dental care is important. But money is tight.
FIELDS :14 I lacked a lot of dental attention myself when I was a child? I do not want this kid to go through what I?ve gone through. I?m very adamant about her health and well being.
Concord Dentist Richard Berryman told Austin Brown to brush without toothpaste while he watches TV.
BERRYMAN :08 you have beautiful, beautiful teeth. Even though they?re coming n a little crooked now, they?ll straighten out as they come in, ok?
So far, nine-year-old Austin has no cavities. That?s a relief for his mother, Heather Brown. Her kids are eligible for health insurance through the state?s Medicaid program. The challenge, she says, is finding a dentist.
BROWN :06 Very difficult, they want all the money up front and that?s hard to do being a single mom.
A key function of this one-day clinic is to connect kids like Austin with dentists who are willing to treat Medicaid patients.
Berryman says many dentists wouldn?t see kids like Austin, because Medicaid reimbursement rates are too low.
BERRYMAN :18 it?s very tough to find dentists to participate and for the most part the paper work can be so onerous. Over the years I?ve treated many kids and I just do it. I don?t bill anybody I don?t even bill the state because it?s not worth my time to fill out the paperwork. Get it rejected, fill it out again.
Berryman says Medicaid covers only half the cost of treating a patient.
The state has been wrestling with the issue of dental care for several years. Berryman says things have improved. Dozens of clinics like this one take place across the state, but he says one-day, volunteer events are just a stop-gap measure.
Berryman says the state needs a more systemic approach ? not just to reach kids, but to reach adults too.
BERRYMAN :13 I saw one 18-year-old boy who?s essentially homeless. Has at least 6 teeth in his mouth with deep decay. Already causing pain, will cause more pain. I?ll see him in my office and treat them.
Preventive care for children is cheap, the care for adults who never got that preventive care is expensive.
Leslie Mahoney is the director of Emergency Services at Concord Hospital. She says adults without dental insurance come to in the Emergency Room only when the pain drives them there. By that point, they have infections and abscesses. But all her staff can do is prescribe painkillers and antibiotics.
MAHONEY :14 And we don?t actually fix tooth or pull it but we will treat pain with whatever?s needed. So we?re just patching until patient can get to dentist. Sometimes that?s not easy.
Mahoney says the people who end up in the E-R are mostly adults who work full-time but don?t have dental insurance. For them, paying out-of-pocket for a dental visit might not be a priority, compared to other household expenses. Many dentists will let patients pay on a sliding scale, but those slots are limited.
MAHONEY :12 Dentist will either not see those patients or have limit on number of patients they?re seeing. In ER we see everyone who comes, but this is an expensive way to go.
Almost 9-thousand people went to New Hampshire emergency rooms in the year 2000 because of tooth decay ? not accidents, just poor dental care. Those visits cost more than a million dollars and each one was preventable.
Mahoney and others say the people who come to her Emergency Room have few resources to draw upon for preventive treatment and low-cost dental care. She says the state needs to continue to reach out to children, but not forget that the costs really add up when it comes to uninsured adults.
For NHPR News, I?m RMD.
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Dr. Berryman is hypocritical. When we first vistied him, his secretary led us to believe tha he would no longer take our kids who were insured with Healthy Kids.