Unfortunately, Medi-Cal’s dental program is currently failing too many children,” observed Wendy Lazarus in a recent Huffington Post article. “For starters, half of the children enrolled in Medi-Cal did not have a dental visit in 2011.” Lazarus, the founder and co-president of The Children’s Partnership (www.childrenspartnership.org), noted that parents whose children need “simple dental treatments, like fillings, find their kids on months-long waiting lists for the few dentists that accept new pediatric Medi-Cal patients. Without prompt attention, cavities can turn into abscesses, and toothaches can turn into extractions.” And when kids are in pain, their schoolwork suffers.
