An organization that advocates for low income Mainers is partnering with the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation to improve access to dental care.
Kathy Kilrain del Rio of Maine Equal Justice said the state has made strides in boosting access ever since it expanded dental benefits to adults under the state-run insurance program MaineCare. But she said the pent up demand combined with a workforce shortage means many people can't get the dental care they need.
"Like so many other medical services in our state, we just don't have enough people," she said. "And so encouraging more people to get involved in that work at every level in the long term will be the way that we most address this problem, but that obviously will take time."
In the short-term, she said, they'll work to reduce barriers that prevent dentists from accepting MaineCare patients. Those may include reducing administrative burdens of the program.
