A new study finds, Only about one-third of US children on Medicaid receives dental care in a single year, and how often these kids see a dentist can depend on where they live.  In 2007, the prevalence of visits to the dentist ranged from 12 percent in Nevada to 49 percent in Vermont, but didn’t reach 50 percent in any state or the District of Columbia, the researchers found.

The researchers also compared the 2007 findings with data from five years earlier.

“This study confirms with actual paid Medicaid claims data that access to dental services for Medicaid-eligible children has increased 16 percent nationally between 2002 and 2007, even though no state has yet reached even 50 percent access,” said study co-author Dr. Allen Conan Davis, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry and former chief dental officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).