Buena Vista County Public Health Resource Specialist Tracy Gotto said many young people in his community face critical dental issues.
“We know that it affects their ability to learn and eat,” Gotto said. “We know that it affects all kinds of health issues regarding a child’s body, but we also know that we have adults in our community that need dental care and the amount is overwhelming.”
Of the five dentists who serve Storm Lake, no one accepts Medicaid patients. The only available provider is the local health center.
“Dentists are just saying that they can’t do it based on the reimbursement, and I think we’re just having this crisis all over. We were sending kids to Fort Dodge at one point, and now Fort Dodge is saying they can’t take any more kids either,” Gotto said.
Source: Dental patients are plagued by a growing shortage of Medicaid providers in rural Iowa / ipr