Report outlines 'pressing crisis' for dental care access in West Virginia

Nearly a quarter dental practices in West Virginia are not accepting new patients, and people in the state wait on average 70 days for their first dental care appointment, according to a report released earlier this month.

“Beyond the Waiting Room: the State of Dental Care Access in West Virginia,” outlines what contributors call a “pressing crisis” in dental care in West Virginia, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Authors of the report, published Nov. 8 by the West Virginia Oral Health Coalition and the Harmony Health Foundation, used a “mystery shopper” assessment of what patients go through trying to schedule a dental appointment. The authors sampled 192 dental care sites in West Virginia, representing about 42 percent of the 456 dental care sites.

The study showed a “concerning” increase in wait times compared to previous mystery shoppers done in other states before the pandemic, it says. For example, a 2014 mystery shopper program in Connecticut found that 75% of practices offered appointments in less than two weeks and the majority (59%) provided appointments within a week.

Read more: https://westvirginiawatch.com/2023/11/21/report-outlines-pressing-crisis-for-dental-care-access-in-west-virginia/