In the News

This model focuses on preventive care, patient satisfaction, and long-term health benefits, aiming to improve overall dental health and reduce costs associated with extensive treatments. By prioritizing effective treatments and patient-centered care, value-based dentistry seeks to deliver better health outcomes, enhance patient experiences, and foster a more sustainable health care system, according to Danielle Apostolon, program manager and value-based care expert at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health.

CareQuest concluded that more solutions are needed to improve dental care accessibility in the U.S. Some of these solutions include expanding adult dental coverage under Medicaid and increasing provider participation in Medicaid, CareQuest said.

A new Care Quest Institute for Oral Health® report shows that poorer families paid 7.4 times more in out-of-pocket expenditures for dental care compared to high-income families between 2007 and 2021. The report, “Lower-Income Families Still Spend More on Dental Care,” also reveals that families living in poverty and those with lower incomes were less likely to have visited a dentist in the past year compared to families with higher incomes in the U.S.

"In the U.S., inequalities in unmet dental needs and care costs persist across income groups, with out-of-pocket costs rising significantly among lower-income families in recent years. The new report was released by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health."

"The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health warned in April 2023 that more than 14 million adults could lose their dental coverage as part of the redetermination process. Recent analysis from the organization shows that about 12 million adults and children lost their dental coverage between April and September of 2023."

More than 56 million Americans reside in areas with a shortage of dental professionals, and over 68 million adults lack dental insurance, creating substantial barriers to accessing care.5 Marginalized populations are disproportionately affected by these shortages, exacerbating existing disparities in oral health outcomes. A diverse dental workforce is necessary to better understand and respond to the unique cultural and socioeconomic needs of these communities, fostering trust and improving patient engagement.

CareQuest Institute for Oral Health’s mission is to improve the oral health of all. One way to achieve this is through programmatic initiatives, which train dental clinics to provide equitable, integrated and accessible care for their communities. The Community Oral Health Transformation (COrHT) Initiative, allowed CareQuest Institute to collaborate with the North Carolina Oral Health Collaboration (NCOHC) and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of North Carolina Foundation to implement and support the initiative in North Carolina.

Medical-dental integration is a critical component designed to enhance and broaden the oral health care delivery model. MORE Care® is a framework for communities to leverage their resources and relationships by providing tools and resources to integrate preventive oral health services into primary care settings. This report will show how local stakeholders advocated for an innovative approach to improve oral health gaps for children in Ohio.

On this episode of the ADHA Podcast host Matt Crespin sits down with Lisa Heaton, PhD, author of a recently published report from the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health on the tremendous amount of lost productivity as a result of dental issues. Dr. Heaton shares some of the eye-opening findings from this study as well as mitigation opportunities for reducing the devastating economic burden of neglected oral health.

The CareQuest Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on equitable care, reports millions of Americans lost their dental insurance from Medicaid last fall, adding to the more than 68 million adults who don't have dental insurance.