Every Policymaker Should Know. . . Oral health problems are pervasive, especially among children .
Tooth decay is the most common chronic and infectious disease among children.
Oral health problems are costly to individuals and to society . Poor access to dental care remains a significant barrier to maintaining good oral health . In order to increase access to oral health services, states need to improve provider incentives by creating loan forgiveness programs, providing tax incentives, increasing reimbursement rates for providers, and increasing flexibility in licensure and scope of practice to encourage dentists to practice in underserved areas. States have the opportunity to provide dental care to low-income individuals through Medicaid and CHIP . Although the federal government sets broad national guidelines, states have the authority to design programs according to their needs.