Editorial: Hope for a UNLV school of dentistry

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 11:48 a.m.

But Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, believes he may have found an alternative source of funding that could help quell fears that the school would come at the expense of other deserving programs in what promises to be a tight state budget. Rawson, a dentist who is director of the university system's dental programs, is hopeful that the federal government will allow the state to use $13 million in state Medicaid funding for a new dental school that now goes to reimbursing dentists who see Medicaid patients.

In addition to providing dental education for Nevada residents, the school's mission also would include providing accessible dental care for under-served Nevadans, such as Medicaid patients. As is too frequently the case with health care, those who need care most often have the least access to quality care. Many dentists don't want the hassle of dealing with the Medicaid red tape that goes with treating poor patients, so Rawson's plan would enable a greater number of the indigent to get care since the dental school's faculty and senior students would see them.

Anyone who has ever suffered severe pain from a cavity knows how debilitating it can be. Imagine, then, how difficult it is for a child to get through a day, let alone try to concentrate on her studies. This situation is all too real in Southern Nevada. For instance, at C.P. Squires Elementary School, which serves all of the homeless shelters in the area, 71 percent of the students need serious dental work -- that translates into about 200 children in grades K-5 who need immediate care and 448 who require nonurgent care.

The state of dental care in Nevada is dismal -- and not just for the indigent. Even for those with health insurance, finding an available dentist can be frustrating. Nevada ranks 46th in the nation in the ratio of dentists to patients. In Southern Nevada alone there is just one dentist for every 3,100 residents. The national average, meanwhile, is one dentist for every 1,700 Americans.

Rawson says federal Medicaid officials have responded favorably to his plan. If his proposal can guarantee that Medicaid funds would substantially support the cost of building and operating the school, part of whose mission would be to assist the underprivileged, then the Legislature should seriously consider this worthy program.