How are rising dental costs affecting access to care? See how creative individuals and dental programs are helping more patients get the treatment they need.
By Genni Burkhart, Editor
Dental services cost 5% more in August than they did a year ago, compared with a 3.4% increase in consumer prices overall. For patients already watching what they spend, higher prices can affect when they seek dental care, how much treatment they complete, and whether they return at all.
Practices are also feeling the increase. The ADA Health Policy Institute reports that dental practice expenses rose 4.9% over the past five years while revenue increased just 1.4%, contributing to an ongoing fiscal squeeze for dental practice owners.
Those numbers make the good work being done by some in dentistry to improve access for patients especially welcome.
New Ways to Reach Patients
CNN recently profiled Connor Gibson, a 22-year-old engineer with Remote Area Medical (RAM) out of Rockford, Tennessee, who helped cut the wait for dentures from as long as three months to a single clinic weekend.
Gibson began volunteering with RAM while studying engineering and computer-aided design. Because he had no dental background, he learned from the organization’s dental professionals while teaching himself digital denture design and 3D printing.
Today, RAM operates a mobile digital denture lab where licensed dental providers and the lab team can scan, design, print, fit, and deliver dentures during its free clinics. Gibson recently produced 35 dentures in one weekend, with the lab’s two printers running around the clock.
For patients who may have traveled a long distance or have little access to affordable prosthodontic care, eliminating another visit can make an enormous difference.
Dental Coverage Faces New Pressure
Programs like RAM serve patients who have few affordable options, and changes in dental coverage could increase that need.
Adult dental benefits remain optional under Medicaid, which leaves them vulnerable when states face budget pressure. CareQuest Institute has warned that several states are considering cuts as Medicaid budgets tighten.
In 2027, another change takes effect. CMS has finalized a rule that prohibits issuers from including routine adult dental services as an essential health benefit in Marketplace plans.
For dentists, these changes add another barrier to patient access. Some patients have coverage that falls short of their treatment needs, while others have no dental coverage at all.
More Programs Helping Patients Get Care
RAM is one of several organizations working to close some of those gaps. Others include:
- America’s Dentists Care Foundation provides equipment and support for Mission of Mercy and other charitable dental clinics. Since 2008, ADCF-supported clinics in 31 states have treated more than 375,000 patients and provided nearly $300 million in charitable oral health care.
- Dental Lifeline Network connects eligible patients with volunteer dentists and laboratories through its Donated Dental Services program. More than 12,000 dentists and 3,300 laboratories participate, and the network has provided $581 million in donated treatment to nearly 179,000 patients.
- Remote Area Medical continues to bring free dental, medical, and vision services directly to communities through volunteer-supported clinics, including its expanding digital denture program.
Dentists can’t control inflation, insurance policy, or every single barrier that keeps a patient from treatment. What these programs do show is just how much can still be done within those limits.
For Gibson and the RAM team, that meant turning a denture process that once took months into care delivered over a single weekend. Across the profession, thousands of dentists, laboratory professionals, team members, and volunteers are finding their own ways to help patients receive treatment they otherwise might miss.
In today's world, that’s definitely good news worth sharing.
Author: With over 16 years as a published journalist, editor, and writer, Genni Burkhart's career has spanned politics, healthcare, law, business finance, technology, and news. She resides in Northern Colorado, where she works as the editor-in-chief of the Incisor at DOCS Education.
