Toothaches can cause a lot of pain and make eating difficult, so it's important to see a dentist as soon as possible. But what if no dentist in your area will accept you as a patient--even if you have state Medicaid insurance? You suffer and search for options even hundreds of miles away, which is what many rural residents in Nebraska are doing, reports Destiny Herbers of Flatwater Free Press.

Arline Morris desperately needs oral care, but she lives in Stratton, Neb., more than 200 miles from any dentist that will take her Medicaid insurance, Herbers explains. "She can’t eat much and struggles daily with constant pain while taking medication that makes her teeth even more fragile. . . . She’s been offered appointments at Omaha and Lincoln. . . . [But] It’s an eight-hour round trip, plus hours of dental work. . . John Morris, Arline’s husband and sole caretaker, spends his days calling around for help, working around the spotty cell phone signal at their home. He’s talked to more than 50 dentists’ offices with no luck."

Over the past five years, "the total number of dental providers reimbursed after treating at least one Medicaid-eligible patient dropped by 37%," Herbers writes. "The problem is especially pronounced in western Nebraska. Only two dozen dentists west of Kearney have been paid for treating a Medicaid patient this year. Forty-three Nebraska counties, many in the state’s western half, have zero dentists helping low-income Nebraskans."

Why does Nebraska have low-income dental deserts? "Because it doesn’t pay," Herber reports. "State government reimbursements for this dental work have fallen 'far below market levels,' said Dr. Jessica Meeske of Hastings. They fail to cover the overhead costs of most procedures, leading to what Meeske calls a 'crisis level' with large numbers of patients unable to get care. . . . Meeske, a pediatric dentist at Pediatric Dental Specialists of Greater Nebraska, said her clinic turns away 15 families a day because they are 'overloaded and booked out.'"

Read the full article about rural dentist access by Heather Close at The Rural Blog.