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2011 State Oral Health Workforce

FY2011 Abstract

Mississippi State Department of Health, Office of Rural Health & Primary Care
Mississippi Dental Loan Repayment Program 
Project Director: Rozelia Harris
570 East Woodrow Wilson Drive
Jackson, Mississippi 39216
Phone: (601) 576-7216
Fax: (601) 576-78373
Grant number: T12HP22708
Project period: 2011 - 2014

The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (MORHPC) and the State Office of Oral Health at the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) plan to partner with the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association (MPHCA) to develop and administer a Mississippi dental loan repayment program, patterned after the National Health Service Corp (NHSC) program, for recruitment and retention of 10 dentists to practice in underserved areas. The project will include dental recruitment and retention efforts, financial support for facilities that participate in the Medicaid program under Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et. seq.) to provide dental services in designated dental health professional shortage areas, and a loan repayment program for dentists who agree to practice in community health centers or other facilities located in designated dental health professional shortage areas.

Mississippi faces enormous health challenges, with long-term social, educational, and economic problems linked to profound inequities in access to medical and dental care. Mississippi is the fourth most rural state in the nation; over 50 percent of the state’s 2.9 million people live in areas classified as rural by the Census Bureau. In 2008, 21 percent of Mississippi’s population lived at or below the federal poverty level (FPL), compared with 13 percent nationally. The Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners reported 1,482 licensed (1,291 “active” and 1,191 “inactive”) dentists in the state for June 2009. The more populated areas of Mississippi are sufficiently supplied with dentists; however, many rural areas still face tremendous shortages, particularly in dentists who specialize in treating periodontal disease. According to the 2010 Report titled “The Cost of Delay:  State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children” released by The Pew Center on the States estimates that Mississippi needs 179 more dentists to supply dental care to the unserved populations, estimated at 32%.  Overall, Mississippi received a D on this report. The state has a shortage of primary care physicians, specialists, dentists, and nurses. According to HRSA’s Shortage Designation Branch listing of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), Mississippi currently has 74 dental HPSAs, which includes 72 single county designations.

The goal of this proposed project is to expand access to comprehensive dental care for underserved populations in Mississippi through two major objectives: 1) the development and administration of a Mississippi Dentist Loan Repayment Program for recruitment and retention of dentists for dental health professional shortage areas; and 2) financially supporting the provision of dental services in dental health professional shortage areas served by facilities that participate in the Medicaid program under Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et. Seq.).