In the News

For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a trip to the dental office can be overwhelming. A new pilot program at Tufts Dental Facilities, a grantee of CareQuest Institute, is breaking barriers with home visits and telehealth, making dental care more accessible and personalized.Read the full article in Decisions in Dentistry here.

Danielle Apostolon, Program Manager, Value-Based Care at CareQuest Institute, explains the shift toward value-based care (VBC) in dentistry in this episode of The Patient Experience Blueprint Podcast.She explains how this VBC model prioritizes quality outcomes over the quantity of services, and how dental practices can adopt this approach to improve patient care and satisfaction.

In this episode of The Burleson Box, Dustin Burleson, DDS, welcomes Erinne Kennedy, DMD, MPH, MMSc, Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Integrated Learning at Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine. Kennedy shares her fascinating journey into dentistry, which was heavily influenced by her family of dental professionals and her passion for public health. 

A new article in The Islands’ Sounder highlights Jessica Dubek, DDS, the founder of DentALL, who travels around Western Washington providing free dental services. Dubek and her team are now operating the Community Dental Clinic on Orcas Island. 

A new article in Axios explains how dental care for millions of people in the US could be one of the first casualties if the federal Medicaid budget is cut by $880 billion. Fluoridated water could be on the chopping block in many communities, too. Melissa Burroughs, CareQuest Institute Public Policy Director, explains how these two policy changes could lead to more visits to the emergency department for dental care, increased health care costs, and worsened health outcomes. 

In this article from Oral Health, CareQuest Institute Value-Based Care Program Manager Danielle Apostolon dives into what value-based care (VBC) is, what VBC looks like in oral health, and what it looks like in practice.Apostolon also explains why dental hygienists are well-positioned to lead the shift to VBC in dental practices.Read the full story here.

The lack of access to dental care in Florida is reflected in alarming statistics. A 2023 report by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health found that children in Florida aged 14 and younger seek dental care through emergency departments for non-traumatic dental conditions (NTDC) at one of the highest rates in the country. The report also found that Florida hospitals were billed nearly $550 million for treating NTDC in 2021 alone.

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in dental injuries, leading many to seek care in hospital emergency departments (EDs). However, for most dental issues, consulting a dentist is more effective and beneficial than visiting an ED. A 2022 report by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health highlighted that in 2019 there were approximately 1.8 million ED visits for non-traumatic dental conditions (NTDCs) in the US, costing about $3.4 billion. This reflects a significant rise in both the number and cost of such visits over recent years.

CareQuest Institute is raising concerns about potential Medicaid cuts that could impact millions of patients and dental providers. Reduced Medicaid funding may lead to limited access to care, lower reimbursement rates, and increased strain on dental practices. Read more about what industry experts are saying and how this could affect the future of dental care.

As President Donald Trump gets settled into his second term, many industry leaders are wondering which policy changes could affect oral healthcare in the US. Melissa Burroughs, director of public policy at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, spoke with Becker's Healthcare to discuss the policies needed to improve oral care in the US under the Trump administration.Read the full story here.