Charles Parents Find Few Openings as Providers Grow Reluctant to Accept Medicaid

When Shenna Foster called the 800 number to find a dentist for her teenage son, Maryland’s health care program for the poor offered three options: Greenbelt, New Carrollton and Fort Washington. Foster lives in Waldorf, 15 miles from the nearest location.

She does not drive, and public transportation is spotty for the journey. Six months later, her son’s teeth remain a problem, with on-again, off-again pain.

There is only one general dental practice within Charles County that routinely accepts patients covered by the state, and that office won’t accept new patients until summer.

“I called and asked for the dentist closest to me, and I’m still trying to find one,” said Foster, a mother of four. “I’ve been calling for over a year.”

Foster’s struggle to find a local dentist is a dramatic example of the statewide and national shortage of dentists who treat patients covered by government-run Medicaid. The 8,000 children who qualify in Charles have the lowest rate of access to dental care in Maryland, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The shortage is particularly trying in this emerging Washington suburb, because of the relatively small pool of private dentists — 63 for 137,000 people — and the limited public transportation to reach offices beyond the county’s borders.

The two community clinics in Charles each have one dentist available one day a week for both adults and children.

“It’s especially brutal here,” said Cheryl DeAtley, the coordinator of an early childhood program that pays for dental care for about 75 of the county’s youngest children from low-income families. “If they are on medical assistance, chances are they don’t have the transportation, either. It’s a domino effect.”

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