Families and care providers for special needs adults across the state rely on Denti-Cal, a subset of Medi-Cal for their dental needs.
Dentists and care providers now say as a result of Denti-Cal policies that have been enacted by the state Department of Health Care Services, or are soon to be enacted, many special needs patients’ wait times for proper dental care has stretched to several months, almost a year in some cases. It used to take Karen Farnsworth just a few weeks to schedule a doctor or dental appointment for Terry O’Donnell, who is severely autistic and blind.
“Now just to get preventative care it takes two to three months, sometimes up to six months,” said Farnsworth. Read more.