The Senate Finance Health Subcommittee held a hearing on March 29 entitled “An Oral Health Crisis: Identifying and Addressing Health Disparities.”
Key points of the hearing focused on how to increase access to dental care for the pediatric population, including the need to establish a “dental home” for children early in their life; the impact community health centers, mobile dental clinics and teledentistry can have in increasing access to care for all patient age groups; and dental workforce challenges, particularly in terms of building a more diverse dental workforce and attracting dental providers to rural areas. Some discussion also occurred among subcommittee members on the need for expanded dental coverage in Medicare Part B as a solution to increasing access to oral healthcare for adults and older Americans.
AAOMS submitted written comments in advance of the hearing.
