Summer McMenamin has a passion for oral health equity. Her interest in this topic began when many of her patients wanted to proceed with their recommended treatment, but cost prevented them from returning to the practice. She could see the disappointment over and over again. She feels for them because she was not able to receive regular dental care as a child.
She began to attend events about oral health equity, and doing this made her even more aware of the great needs, and how she might be able to help with the problem. The first thing a hygienist needs to do is look into what the problem is in their state. In Summer’s area, not many providers participate in Medicaid. It’s up to each dental care provider to decide how they can help. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.
You might even be able to discuss with the dentist the possibility of taking on a case in need regularly in your own practice. Summer shares the resources that her peers can access to help alleviate this problem in their areas. The main thing is to do what you can.
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About the podcast
RDH Magazine Podcast is the community of voices you love from RDH magazine, brought to your podcast feed every week. You can expect to gain education and have the RDH magazine community in your ears to complement the content you enjoy online and in print each month.
