Health

18 HEALTH • Spring 2017 Dental access problems aired as dueling bills seek to add providers \\ By Emily Micucci M assachusetts is second only to Washington, D.C. when it comes to the availability of dentists. According to the American Dental Association, the Bay State has the the second-highest population of dentists per capita. Still, access to dental care isn't necessarily easy. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 13 percent of the commonwealth's popula- tion is designated as lacking sufficient access to dentists. DENTAL DISPARITY Dr. Edward Swiderski, a longtime Uxbridge dentist, said dental care is underutilitzed, but a campaign to create dental therapists to help treat the underserved is misguided. While policy makers and dental experts agree there are barriers to dental care -- particularly for people who are covered by public MassHealth insurance -- there's a difference of opinion about how to remove them. 'A utilization problem' As dueling bills aimed at expanding dental care are vetted on Beacon Hill, proponents of each one are raising important questions about dental care Massachusetts, especially for the disadvantaged. Massachusetts lawmakers are examining a bill backed by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit public policy organization that has been making inroads across the United States in a campaign to improve dental access, as well as an alternative bill proposed by the Massachusetts Dental Society. Both include provisions for creating a new class of dental providers that will purportedly expand access for the underserved. But supporters of the bills disagree about the cause of dental care shortages in Massachusetts, and about training standards for mid-level dental provid- ers, which both sides have likened to nurse practitio- ners or physician assistants in the medical field. "We maintain it's a utilization problem," said Dr. Edward Swiderski, an Uxbridge dentist who has practiced for 36 years. A member of the Massachusetts Dental Society, Swiderski said many Massachusetts dentists treat Medicaid patients, but people covered by both commercial plans and MassHealth don't always seek dental care when appropriate, due to fear or lack of education about the impact dental health has on overall health. Until recently, Swiderski was one of about 45 percent of Massachusetts dentists who, according to the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS), treat MassHealth patients covered by the state's Medicaid

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