Improving Access for the Under- and Uninsured

In 2022, during our listening sessions with 1,500 Montgomery County residents, we learned that access to affordable dental care is a priority. The dental care system is difficult to navigate and extremely expensive, especially for under- and uninsured people. Many residents are suffering from untreated dental problems that are painful and lead to other health issues. 

To address this issue, we formed a dental campaign team. We met with Montgomery County councilmembers and the County Executive, asking for them to fund mobile clinics to provide free dental care. In the fiscal year 2024 budget, the county included funding to set up a mobile health van that would include dental care.

While we waited for the county to establish this program, we worked together with the Primary Care Coalition (PCC) and  America Diversity Group (ADG) to secure private foundation funds to make sure that a mobile dental clinic visited the Hewitt Avenue community four times between December 2023 and May 2024. This pilot project was successfully implemented, and 40 people were able to access quality dental care with cleanings, fillings, and extractions. There were very few cancellations- mostly due to COVID- demonstrating both the unmet demand that exists as well as the need for strong partnership with trusted organizations.

Now, we are asking Montgomery County to sustain funding for dental care such that the county mobile dental van can begin its work in communities with unmet needs. And we further ask that the mobile dental van can build on lessons from our pilot to: 1) connect uninsured and underinsured patients to brick and mortar dental homes for ongoing care, both preventative and specialized and 2) ensure there is sharing of relevant dental records to prevent unnecessary and overuse of testing.

Are you interested in our dental campaign? Do you want to be part of our dental team? Please contact Pilar Olmedo Gordon: pilar@actioninmontgomery.org.