Becker's Dental + DSO Review

8 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW // VOL. 2022 NO. 1 DENTAL PROFESSIONALS West Virginians struggle to afford dental care despite Medicaid expansion By Ariana Portalatin W est Virginia Medicaid recipients are still having a hard time getting dental care despite gaining expanded coverage in January 2021, WV News reports. West Virginia passed a law in 2020 providing $1,000 in dental coverage annually for Medicaid recipients 21 and older Jan. 1, 2021. The coverage includes emergency procedures as well as diagnostic, preventive and restorative services with prior authorization. But Josh Brown, executive director of Health Access, a free clinic in Clarksburg, W.Va., told WV News that most state resi- dents need care that costs more than $1,000. According to 2018 data from the CDC, 44.7 percent of West Virginians 18 and older reported not visiting a dentist or dental clinic in the last year, compared to the national rate of 33.5 percent. More than 26 percent of residents 65 and older reported losing all their teeth because of tooth decay or gum disease, and 54.8 percent lost six or more teeth, compared to the national rates of 13.4 percent and 34 per- cent, respectively. Dental workforce shortages have also affected the state, but Health Access said it recently received a $30,000 grant from the Highmark West Virginia charitable fund to hire a part- time dentist. n Missouri dentists struggle to keep up with influx of Medicaid patients: 8 things to know By Ariana Portalatin D ental clinics throughout Missouri are struggling to provide care with the new influx of Medicaid patients since the program was expanded in October, Kaiser Health News re- ported Nov. 16. Eight things to know: 1. About 275,000 residents are newly eligible since the program's expansion. 2. Wait times at dental clinics range from a few weeks to several months. 3. Missouri has one of the lowest Medicaid accep- tance rates in the U.S., with only 27 percent of dentists accepting Medicaid. 4. Many of the dentists who accept Medicaid provide care at safety-net clinics, which provide care to low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients. 5. Vicki Wilbers, executive director of the Missouri Dental Association, said few dentists accept Medic- aid because of low reim- bursement rates. 6. The COVID-19 pandem- ic has also led to clinics being short-staffed, but the recruitment of new dental staff is slower than the rate of patients coming in to receive care they delayed because of the pandemic. 7. About 1.7 million Missouri residents live in a dental shortage area. The state would need about 365 more dentists to relieve these shortages. 8. Kansas City, Mo., is one area not struggling with a backlog of patients because of the presence of the University of Missouri-Kan- sas City School of Dentistry and additional safety-net clinics where patients can receive care. n Private equity in dentistry: 9 updates in 2021 By Ariana Portalatin F rom new investments to DSO launches, here are nine private equity moves in the dental in- dustry in 2021: • Surge Private Equity added two dental practices to its DSO, Access Dental Manage- ment, launching the organization in Illi- nois and Indiana. • RiverGlade Capital sold its controlling stake in Irving, Texas-based U.S. Oral Surgery Management. USOSM also gained a private equity investment from Oak Hill Capital. • Thurston Group formed its DSO, Gen4 Dental Partners. • The Jordan Co. acquired New Hyde Park, N.Y.- based Dental365. • HealthEdge Investment Partners and Syn- ergistic Capital Partners completed their investment in Tampa, Fla.-based Today's Dental Network. • Comvest Partners invested in dental lab com- pany Leixir Dental Group. • ICV Partners made a majority investment in Madison, Wis.-based Cherry Tree Dental. • Varsity Healthcare Partners invested in Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Peak Den- tal Services. n

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