Asian Health Services Dental is addressing the rise of low-income families with dental health needs through an expansion of its dental clinic. Read more to learn about the state of dental-health for low income families in California.
How A Broken, $1 Billion State Program Leaves Californians With Cavities
By Ben Bradford
This story is part one of a two-part series looking at the holes in California’s dental care safety net.
The government spends more than $1 billion annually on California teeth, offering dental coverage to 13 million low-income residents who qualify for Medi-Cal services. But, most California dentists refuse to participate in the Denti-Cal program, leaving patients with impossible wait times that lead to expensive health consequences.
The Asian Health Services dental clinic in Oakland is the rare office that sees patients who get their dental coverage through Medi-Cal.
Even with six dentists working on 50 patients a day, office assistant Tiffany Sitlin says the clinic can’t keep up with demand.