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Healthcare

Dental Care

Children and adults with disabilities and/or special health care needs need dental treatment the same as everyone else. They not only require routine dental care, but often need additional attention. Their treatments may be affected by their physical, emotional, developmental, cognitive, or sensory disabilities.

Dental Care and Disabilities

Providing Oral Care for People with Developmental Disabilities

Dental Care Every Day: A Caregiver’s Guide

Dental Care for the Patient with Down Syndrome

Dental Tool Kit from Autism Speaks

Drs of Smiles Program from the Grottoes of North America

Dental Care for Children with Special Needs Fact Sheet (en espanol)

Toothbrushing Tips for Your Child with a Disability

Sugerencias para el uso del cepillo dental para su niño con discapacidad

Finding a Dentist in Georgia

Georgia Medicaid provides comprehensive dental services for children under the age of 21, and as of July 1, 2024 most of these same services available for children are also covered for adults over the age of 21.

For children under 21, dentistry is a mandatory service, provided as a part of Early and Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT). The services include regular check ups as part of preventive care. Check ups should be done at intervals that are the reasonable standard of dental practice, and also when there is a need, such as when the child is in pain or has an infection. The services cannot be limited to emergency care only, but must include restoration of teeth and maintenance of dental health.

Effective from July 1, 2024, individuals over the age of 21 who have Medicaid will be able to receive the following medically necessary dental services: diagnostic, preventive, restoration, periodontal, prosthodontic, endodontic, emergency dental services and oral survey (inpatient and outpatient).

Trying to find a dental provider that accepts Medicaid can be a challenge. Less than 1 in 3 dentists in Georgia accept Medicaid.