By Danielle Skinner
WACO-- Families in Waco who can't afford dental insurance or have medicaid are finding it hard to get themselves and their children the proper care, which is why tooth decay is a growing problem.
"Tooth decay affects their self-esteem, it effects their overall health. So it's actually causing a barrier to having a child's well being developed in school," said the Senior Regional Dental Director of Kool Smiles, Dr. Diane Earle.
Kool Smiles provides dental care to under-served communities and families without insurance. They celebrated their grand opening Wednesday.
Kool Smiles has two offices in Waco and sees about 60 to 80 patients a day. That's about 2,000 patients a month. The dentists who treat these patients say there is not enough dentists to serve people with Medicaid or without insurance. The majority of these people are children.
"About 200 pediatric dentists serving 1.2 million children. Really helps to magnify that need for increasing access to care," said Earle.
Low income children that aren't getting dental care are twice as likely to have cavities, but are far less likely to get treatment.
