California Healthline

Medi-Cal’s dental care gap: Getting a tooth pulled is easy — much harder to get an implant

California is among a growing number of states that provide dental benefits to adults enrolled in Medicaid, yet many dentists don’t accept Medi-Cal.

Long Beach Watchdog

Aug 10, 2024 — 5 min read

Bobby Moske of San Rafael, California, had to get his tooth pulled after waiting months for authorization for a root canal under Medi-Cal. Now he wants implants, but Medi-Cal won’t cover it. (Loren Elliott for KFF Health News)

By Molly Castle Work, California Healthline

When Bobby Moske went to a community clinic a few years ago with a toothache, he couldn’t find a dentist in Marin County willing to take Medicaid to do a root canal.

Marin Community Clinics referred the 75-year-old to a dentist about 20 miles away in San Francisco, but his tooth decayed while he waited months for authorization to cover the procedure. In the end, his tooth was pulled.

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