Sometimes, parents just can't get their kids to the dentist's office.

The cost of dental care can be a barrier for many families, but so can timing, said Linda Meyers, a dental hygienist who is the coordinator of the I-Smile dental health initiative for Pottawattamie and Mills Counties in Iowa.

"How many dentists stay open until after 5?" Meyers asked. "How many are open on Saturdays when people have off?"

In February, which is National Children's Dental Health Month, the American Dental Association highlights the importance of dental care for children, usually by holding free dental exams at dentist's offices, dental schools or clinics across the country.

On Saturday, Creighton University dental students, faculty and staff will perform checkups on 100 kids at a Give Kids a Smile event in Omaha. Last Friday, 134 children received more than $101,000 in care at a free event at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry in Lincoln.

Dentists in Council Bluffs treated 108 youths last Friday, providing more than $43,000 worth of services such as screening, fluoride varnishing, polishing and the application of sealants. Buses took students from their schools to participating dental offices, Meyers said, so parents didn't have to worry about transportation.

Dental care is important for children and adults, said Dr. Sally Cram, a periodontist and spokeswoman for the American Dental Association. There's a relationship between oral health and one's risk of developing diabetes, she said. "It's hard to control blood sugar levels when you have chronic infection in your mouth," she said.

There also are strong associations, she said, between untreated gum disease and a higher risk for high blood pressure, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

For children, Cram said, pain from tooth or gum problems makes it difficult to eat and concentrate in school. Also, she said, "if kids lose baby teeth too soon because of cavities, they may not be able to speak properly."

The free services that dentists and dental hygienists offer are a big help, because plenty of kids aren't getting their teeth checked.

An estimated 16.5 million children in the U.S. go without basic dental care each year, according to a 2011 study by the Pew Center on the States. Even though millions of children have dental coverage through either private insurance or a public program such as Medicaid, that doesn't translate into actual care.

In 2009, the study's authors said, only 12.9 million of the more than 29 million Medicaid-enrolled children received any dental services.

Some dentists simply don't accept Medicaid patients, Meyers said.

Part of that may be because of low Medicaid reimbursement rates for dentists. In Nebraska, the Pew study found, the share of dentists' fees reimbursed by Medicaid was 49.4 percent, under the national average of 60.5 percent. In Iowa, the reimbursement rate was 46.8 percent.

One of the goals of the free programs is to help facilitate follow-up care for the young patients, said Dr. Gary Westerman, chairman of the Creighton University School of Dentistry's Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry. He said the dentists will refer patients to places with sliding billing scales such as OneWorld Community Health Center in South Omaha or the dental clinic at Charles Drew Health Center in north Omaha.

Charles Drew — which has a Saturday dental clinic, by the way — served nearly 2,900 dental patients in 2010, said Judith Hill, the center's development director.

Yet even the co-pays required of some patients at such clinics can be a burden, Meyers said. That's why she's grateful that dentists are willing to provide free care both at the February events and at other times of the year.

"I wish we could do one of these every month," she said. "It's a good service."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com

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