The reduction of providers for special needs patients is making it hard for Wisconsin residents in need of dental care to find open appointments, Channel3000 reported May 16.
Six things to know:
1. Karen Scullion told the news station her son, Trent, who has cerebral palsy, has not had a dental visit in three years. Her son has had to rely on short-term solutions such as prescription antibiotics for his dental pain while she searched for an appointment, with multiple practices having a years-long wait list or refusing patients who live outside the county where the practice is located. Another patient's cancellation finally enabled her son to get an appointment in July.
2. Patrick Tepe, DDS, who chairs the legislative advocacy committee for the Wisconsin Dental Association, said the issue mostly applies to adult patients, because pediatric dentists are more likely to have some in-office sedation capabilities.
3. People with severe disabilities often require IV sedation in a dental office or must go under full anesthesia in a hospital's operating room.
4. The problem grew after the only dental residency program in the state at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital in Madison closed down seven years ago, which provided training for these kinds of services. It has also been exacerbated by low Medicaid reimbursements, a shortage of dentists and a lack of prioritization at the state level, Dr. Tepe said.
5. Despite the closure of UnityPoint's residency, the hospital remains one of the few offering operating rooms to dentists who can provide care to special needs patients. The hospital also partnered with Madison-based UW Health and SSM Health in St. Louis to provide a community dentist.
6. The Marquette University School of Dentistry in Milwaukee recently introduced curriculum changes and a hospital collaboration to train dental students on special needs care to alleviate the problem.