MAKING MEDICAID CHILD DENTAL SERVICES WORK - A PARTNERSHIP IN WASHINGTON-STATE

Eighty-one percent of general dentists and 86 percent of pediatric den tists who are members of the local denial society in Spokane County, W ashington, participated in a pilot program to provide dental care in p rivate offices to children up to 5 years of age from low-income famili es served by the Medicaid program. Outreach staff from the local publi c health agency recruited and enrolled families in the program. Univer sity faculty provided special training in the care of young children t o the dentists participating in the program. In the program's first ye ar, 37 percent of the enrolled children had made at least one visit to the dentist, in contrast to 12 percent of children who were not enrol led in the program.