Dean Feldman Urges Lawmakers to Ensure that Dental Care is 'Essential'

Dean Cecile A. Feldman

Dean Cecile A. Feldman called on New Jerseyans to demand that healthcare legislation keep pediatric dental care as an "essential" benefit. In an op-ed published Monday in NJ Spotlight, she also urged elected officials to expand the essential benefit to adults.

Since Obamacare too effect in 2014, dental care has been more accessible and affordable, especially for the state's most vulnerable residents. But under the proposed Trumpcare plan, scheduled to be voted on in the days ahead, essential benefits would be stripped and states would decide which ones to keep. If oral health benefits are slashed, the results could be a rise in dental diseases, oral cancer and other conditions, Dean Feldman wrote.

The dean described the difference oral healthcare can make in the life of a patient:

"At the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, the state’s largest oral-healthcare provider, our students and faculty have seen firsthand the life-changing results of timely, accessible care. We’ve seen patients who suffered from malnutrition because they couldn’t eat solid food thrive after getting new dentures. More patients with facial and cranial deformities were able to get surgery. More children were able to get cavities filled and learn the importance of brushing and flossing. Patients with excruciating toothaches didn’t have to go to the ER because they lacked dental coverage. Instead, they were treated at our clinics, saving taxpayer dollars. At our facilities in Newark and South Jersey, the number of Medicaid patients has increased from 30 percent to more than 50 percent under Obamacare."

She also encouraged residents to advocate for themselves and their fellow Jerseyans:

"We must ensure that dental care for children and vulnerable adults in New Jersey is not at risk. We urge state residents to demand this right for all Garden State families. Wellness is measured from head to toe, and the mouth is not exempt. We are all entitled to a body that is healthy and pain-free."