Access to care
Modern dentistry
Dental education
Mission of Mercy and other charitable dental care
Fluoride

*Note the WDA makes every effort to keep all external links on our website current. However, some links may be broken or no longer exist. Please send an e-mail to info@wda.org if you find a broken link so we can fix it. Thank you.

Access to care

Dentists say state needs to fill funding cavity
WISCONSIN RADIO NETWORK, JUNE 7, 2010
Dentists say lower income people in Wisconsin are not receiving the care they need due in part with inadequate funding from the state. Dr. Kent Vandehaar, President of the Wisconsin Dental Association, says in his private practice he gets shortchanged by the state when seeing BadgerCare patients. “Typically I get paid 33 percent of my normal fee and my overhead is 65 percent.”

More help, prevention needed
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, JUNE 1, 2010
Like an untreated cavity that continues to ache, Wisconsin's system of dental care for poor families isn't getting much better. While some success can be claimed in the growth of federally-funded centers that provide dental care for the poor and uninsured, that's really about it. Otherwise, our state continues on a woeful path of poor dental health.

Dr. Kent Vandehaar: Dental care for poor is not a state priority
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, MAY 28, 2010
As Sunday’s article “Too few dentists, too much pain” indicates, facts show Wisconsin has an adequate supply of dentists, and dental care is available whether you live in Darlington, Dousman or another part of Wisconsin. The problem, however, is state government must provide more support for people to get the dental care they need. By drastically underfunding its dental Medicaid and BadgerCare programs, Wisconsin is telling the state’s neediest residents that their oral health is not important.

EDITORIAL: Closing a gap
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, MAY 24, 2010
A dental school in northern Wisconsin charged with training dentists for work in rural areas may be a few years away even with a $10 million allocation from the state Legislature designed to catalyze the effort.

Too few dentists, too much pain in rural Wisconsin communities
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, MAY 23, 2010
A Wisconsin State Journal special report. Included in this report are the following related stories and multimedia:

• Provider quits Medicaid practice
• Minnesota training dental therapists
• Would another dental school help?
• Fluoride could help, advocates say
• Sealants can protect children's teeth
• Video: The value of a smile
• Video: She teaches healthy teeth
• Map of dental clinics targeting the underserved

Investigation: Dentists won't treat children on state health plan
WKOW-TV, MADISON, MAY 10, 2010
Most of us don't love going to the dentist.  But most everyone would admit it's important, especially for kids. Right now, tens of thousands of Wisconsin children are being turned away from dentists for one simple reason: they use the state health plan, BadgerCare.

*Clarification to WKOW-TV 27 report: Dentists who are NOT Medicaid/BadgerCare certified CAN accept cash from patients enrolled in those state insurance programs. Approximately 50 – 60 percent of all dentists in Wisconsin are not MA/BC certified, so Medicaid/BadgerCare patients do have the option of seeking care from these dentists and working with the office to make payment arrangements that are outside of the very limited MA/BC fee schedule set by the state.

Study: Most Medicaid children lack access to care
MARSHFIELD NEWS HERALD, FEB. 28, 2010
A Pew Center report released last week shows many Wisconsin children aren't going to the dentist. The report found that the state failed to provide three out of four children in the Medicaid system with dental care.

Dental report nothing to smile about
THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF MILWAUKEE, FEB. 23, 2010
The state of Wisconsin earned a “C” when it comes to taking care of children’s teeth and does a particularly poor job of caring for low-income youngsters, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Center on the States.

Steps must be taken to improve access to dental care
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, DEC. 14, 2009
The need for the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic is obvious. Tooth pain is no respecter of income level. Thousands of poor Wisconsin children are without dental care essentially because dentists can't afford to see them. And that's because of notoriously low reimbursements under BadgerCare Plus. The clinic is often the only option for the city's poor. The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic addresses these issues for the neediest on Milwaukee's south side.

Steps must be taken to improve access to dental care
MARSHFIELD NEWS-HERALD, JUNE 3, 2009
Access to dental care has been a sticking point for people without insurance or on medical assistance for years. Many dentists won't take medical assistance patients. They are reimbursed between 40 percent and 44 percent for the care they provide to MA patients. (Overhead at many dental offices is 60 to 65 percent. They lose money with every patient on MA.)

Dental funding needs a filling in Wisconsin
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL - MAY 15, 2009
Wisconsin can't smile about its dental care for kids. Nearly one in five school children has untreated tooth decay, a 2008 state survey suggests. And that contributes to more than just pain and rotten teeth.

Inadequate funding: The Legislature should address the chronic underfunding of reimbursements for dentists who treat Medicaid patients
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL - MAY 14, 2009
Thousands of impoverished Wisconsin kids are without dental care because dentists can't afford to see them. When these kids do finally get in the chair, they often have serious problems. The Journal Sentinel's Guy Boulton found that fewer than one in four kids ages 3 to 19 who are insured through the Medicaid program BadgerCare Plus saw a dentist in 2007. That equates to more than 300,000 kids who didn't get a checkup. It's simply not fair, and it's happening because Wisconsin's reimbursement rate for dentists who accept BadgerCare Plus patients is miserly.

State watch: Few dentists in Wisconsin accept patients enrolled in BadgerCare Plus
KAISER DAILY HEALTH POLICY REPORT - MAY 12, 2009
Few dentists in Wisconsin are accepting patients insured by BadgerCare Plus, and children in particular are affected, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. According to the state Department of Health Services, fewer than one in four children ages three to 19 insured through BadgerCare Plus were seen by a dentist in 2007.

Dental care in short supply for low-income Wisconsin children
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL - MAY 9, 2009
PART 1 of 2: Lucia Alba knew something was wrong when her son said his teeth hurt while eating an apple. Carlos, her son, isn't a fussy child. But a few days earlier, he had mentioned that his teeth hurt. This time, Alba got a flashlight and looked in his mouth. She saw blood. Her son, 7 years old at the time, had abscesses, or infections, in two of his teeth. 

Pay disagreements leave gap between needs and care
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL - MAY 10, 2009
PART 2 of 2: In one out of every two classrooms in Wisconsin, you’ll find a child who needs dental care for an infection, tooth fracture or other urgent condition. Nearly one in five of the child’s classmates have untreated tooth decay.

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Modern dentistry

WITI - Fox 6 Milwaukee, Oct. 12, 2009

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Dental education

Marquette provides dental quality
WAUSAU DAILY HERALD - MAY 11, 2009
Dental access is a top priority for the Marquette University School of Dentistry, one which my colleagues and I address every day. 

Clinic considers dental school
MARSHFIELD NEWS-HERALD - APRIL 11, 2009
The Marshfield Clinic wants to build the state's second dental school to meet a growing shortage of dentists in rural and under-served areas.

New dental school sought
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL - APRIL 5, 2009
Mindful of the severe shortage of dentists in large swaths of rural Wisconsin, the Marshfield Clinic and the state's largest community health center have begun putting together the pieces to start a second dental school in Wisconsin.

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Mission of Mercy and other charitable dental care

Click here for 2009 Mission of Mercy media coverage, including TV and radio. 

Mission of Mercy accomplished
SHEBOYGAN PRESS, June 26, 2010
Ten-year-old Kalin Mesun had his first dental exam Friday in the North High School gymnasium, one of 1,018 children and adults who received free dental treatment Friday as part of the second-annual Mission of Mercy event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dental Association.

Real-life tooth fairies: Mission of Mercy provides free dental services to needy
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, June 26, 2010
Wisconsin Dental Association's Mission of Mercy brought dentistry on a grand scale to Sheboygan North High School this weekend. More than 900 volunteers transformed Raider Nation into dental central, offering dental care to those in need.

LISTEN: Volunteers give free dental care
WISCONSIN RADIO NETWORK, June 25, 2010
Dentists, dental hygienists and assistants are volunteering their time in Sheboygan this weekend to help out those who aren’t able to visit a dental office. Dr. Gene Shoemaker, state program chair of the Mission of Mercy, says people don’t realize that dental health is a part of overall health, “Unfortunately a lot of patients we see at MOM programs throughout the country, people have infections and/or pain. People don’t realize that dental infections can be a life threatening illness for people.”

Area dentists on a 'Mission of Mercy'
GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, June 24, 2010
About 960 volunteers, including 180 dentists, from 150 Wisconsin communities will be on hand Friday and Saturday at North High School to provide free dental care to as many as 2,000 children and adults for the Wisconsin Dental Association's second annual Mission of Mercy event. Volunteers at the clinic will come from across the state, including a few communities in the Green Bay area.

Local dentists on a 'Mission of Mercy'
SHEBOYGAN PRESS, June 23, 2010
About 950 dentists, hygienists and assistants from 150 Wisconsin communities will be on hand Friday and Saturday at North High School to provide free dental care to as many as 2,000 children and adults for the Wisconsin Dental Association's second annual "Mission of Mercy" event.

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Fluoride

Bottled waters not created equal
THE CHRONOTYPE - MAY 20, 2009
We all know that drinking enough liquid is important...most bottled water lacks the fluoride added to tap water, a particular concern for the dental health of children and teenagers.  

New Poynette board decides to resume fluoridation
ASSOCIATED PRESS - MAY 13, 2009
Fluoride is returning to the Poynette water system. The Village Board voted this week to put fluoride back in the water supply, reversing a decision made last month before newly elected members took their seats on the board. 

Fluoride has played key role in reducing dental caries, found in many community water supplies
ANTIGO DAILY JOURNAL - MARCH 2, 2009
Caries (cavities) used to be a fact of life. However, during the past few decades, tooth decay has been reduced dramatically. The key reason: fluoride. Fluoride is a mineral that can naturally be found in many water sources.

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*Note the WDA makes every effort to keep all external links on our website current. However, some links may be broken or no longer exist. Please send an e-mail to info@wda.org if you find a broken link so we can fix it. Thank you.