By Roz Brown, Public News Service – NM
Mar. 14, 2019
SANTA FE, N.M. – Nearly 900,000 New Mexicans do not have access to dental health care, but legislation headed for the governor’s desk would change that.
New Mexico is poised to become the eighth state to adopt a program that allows dental therapists to provide routine and preventive care and take their skills to rural areas where dental health care often is lacking or non-existent.
Jacob Vigil, a research and policy analyst with New Mexico Voices for Children, says the bill will allow thousands of rural and underserved residents suffering from dental decay access to professional care.
“This is really a game changer for our state, being a state that’s very large, with a big rural population, tribal population,” Vigil stresses. “This is a really innovative and critical step that our state is taking to address those access needs.”
Read more at Public News Service – NM