Live Chat Friday at 1 p.m. ET: Lack of Dental Care for Americans

The lack of access to dental care is a problem that affects millions of Americans, Betty Ann Bowser and the NewsHour’s health team are reporting in a series this week.

Panelists from the American Dental Association, Alaska’s Dental Health Aide Therapist program and Remote Area Medical will participate in a live chat Friday to continue the conversation online.

Leave your questions in the comments section below, tweet them to @newshourhealth or include the hashtag #dentalchat, or email us at onlinehealth [at] newshour.org. And make sure to return at 1 p.m. ET Friday to join the discussion.

Here are the participants scheduled to join the live chat (subject to change):

• Stan Brock: founder of Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit that organizes free dental clinics for uninsured people around the nation. Watch his organization at work in this report from Grundy, Va.
• Mary Williard: director of the Dental Health Aide Therapist Program in Alaska, which was profiled on the NewsHour Wednesday evening and in this blog post.
• Dr. Bill Calnon: president of the American Dental Association, who appeared in the first broadcast installment in the series.

Don’t forget to leave your questions about the reports and for the panelists in the comments or with the hashtag #dentalchat on Twitter.