Community Older Adult Dental Program

Session Description: Mobile dental programs are well established in providing oral health care for kids but have you ever wondered how to reach the other end of the age spectrum? Medicare has limited oral health coverage and most older adults have no or limited dental insurance. This session will explain how a North Carolina mobile dental provider and a North Carolina county partnered to pilot an older adult dental program. Through this one-of-a-kind partnership, nearly 600 county residents have received comprehensive dental care that was not previously available to them. Fifty-eight percent of the patients had documented high caries risk levels. Continuous, comprehensive dentistry has reduced disease levels and improved oral health function. During the two-year pilot program, there were nearly 8,000 dental services provided with a total value of $1.7 Million. This successful model has created a dental home for the older adults within the community.