When Alpena’s Jan Prentice had two painfully cracked and infected teeth, it took her four months to find a dentist — 40 minutes away — who accepted her insurance and could take new patients.
When she got home from having the teeth pulled, she said she found a couple pieces of tooth that the dentist didn’t completely extract.
She pulled those pieces out herself.
“No sense in calling to try to get help, because it might be another couple months,” she said last week. “So I just did surgery on myself last night.”
While Prentice’s experience is unique, 1.6 million Michiganders — especially those in rural northern parts of the state — lack adequate access to dentistry services, the state’s latest Oral Health Plan says. At least 400 new dentists are needed to fill gaps that have some residents waiting weeks, months, or longer for care that often comes too late.
Source: ‘I just did surgery on myself.’ Michigan dentist shortage leaves some in lurch / Bridge Michigan