In the News

A wide body of research links poor oral health to a range of negative physical, mental and economic impacts. Yet, an estimated 76.5 million adults—equal to nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population, plus an unknown number of children—do not have dental coverage, according to research from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. While older Americans are most at risk of developing oral health problems, they’re also the most likely to lack dental insurance.

“We’re gonna win,” Schakowsky told The Hill’s editor-in-chief, Bob Cusack, at Tuesday’s “Unlocking Access to Oral Health” event. “I’ve been an organizer for most of my life. I can never really remember a time when there is so much energy out there on the Democratic side.”

An estimated 76.5 million Americans lack dental insurance coverage, according to CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, a non-profit that advocates for accessible oral health care.  Read the full article. 

A collaboration among CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, Center for Health Care Strategies Inc, and National Academy of State Health Policy has created a new tool to analyze the range and effectiveness of Medicaid adult dental benefits on a state-by-state basis.  Read the full article.

The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health nonprofit recently launched an online tool giving insight into the extensiveness of adult Medicaid dental coverage in each state. Read the full article.

Before the pandemic, nearly 1 in 7 dentists experienced burnout, but that number has increased due to stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a research report published by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Read the full article. 

Kameron Matthews, MD, JD, FAAFP, chief health officer of Cityblock Health, and Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, MBA, president and CEO of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, offer their perspective on the business case for investing in overall and oral health equity.

The Community Oral Health Transformation Initiative is being launched with 14 dental clinics across North Carolina to explore the benefits a new model of oral health care delivery... The North Carolina Oral Health Collaborative is partnering with others including CareQuest Institute for Oral Health to run the program. Read the full article.

“It was incredible to get as far as it went,” said Michael Monopoli, vice president of grant strategy at the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. The discourse around the proposal, which stressed the impact of dental health on overall health, “got the attention of policy makers,” Monopoli said, and “got them to think about this as a possibility.” Read the full article.

The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health reports that around 6.5 million adults in the U.S. do not have dental insurance. Read the full article.