The lack of dental services for people who do not have insurance is one of the greatest unmet needs in our community. The lack of adequate dental care for the uninsured leads to a strain on emergency rooms, which ends up costing all Genesee County residents through uncompensated care costs. According to hospital and GHP data, emergency room visits with the primary diagnosis of dental pain and infection represent the second most common diagnosis for GHP members who visit the emergency rooms at the three major local hospitals.

In hopes of addressing this problem, GHP implemented a pilot dental program in June 2009 to targeted GHP members with acute oral conditions, including abscesses, periodontal disease, and extreme nerve and root decay.  Most of these members with serious cases would have used the emergency room to treat these acute oral conditions.

The objectives of the pilot program include:

• Providing dental services to 200-300 members a year with severe and life-threatening oral health conditions
• Decreasing the use of the emergency rooms for treating dental conditions and the amount of uncompensated care that local hospitals provide
• Educating GHP members on proper oral health care
• Heightening awareness among dental care providers of the unmet need in the community

Dr. Frank Radtke, DDS, a private-practice dentist in Clio, is among the three dentists who contracted with Genesee Health Plan for the pilot dental program. Radtke stresses to patients the importance of prevention and education.

Radtke, in his 25 years as a dentist, has noticed an increase in the consumption of fatty foods and sugary sodas, which often leads to poor dental health. Poor lifestyle habits can also lead to complications for dental patients. Some patients wait until their dental conditions get so critical that they have to seek emergency treatment. This delay in getting care results in difficulty correcting these emergency conditions , according to Radtke, because “oral surgery is tough in treating medically compromised patients .”

Radtke says that preventive dentistry can save patients numerous trips to the emergency room, which is “important in helping to contain the cost of health care.”

“Reducing emergency room visits for serious dental problems lessens the burden on all of us,” Radtke adds.