Improving Dental Policies for Low-Income Children

In honor of National Children’s Dental Health Month, Pew Center on the States has released The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children. Pew graded states’ policy responses to the challenges in dental health among America’s low-income children, scoring all 50 states and the District of Columbia on whether and how well they are employing proven policy solutions—all related to cost-effective prevention, Medicaid improvements, new workforce models, and data collection—to ensure dental health and access to care for children. The report and accompanying state fact sheets detail such policies and states’ efforts, highlighting and recommending low cost solutions with high return on investment for children and taxpayers.

Policies to expand health insurance and policies to help children be healthy and prepared to succeed in school.