(upbeat music) - We're now joined by Dr. Michal Herman, who is COO of KinderSmile Foundation.

Good to see you, Dr. Herman.

- Good to see you, as well.

Thank you for having me.

- It's our pleasure.

We'll put up the website for KinderSmile Foundation.

Tell everyone what it is, because you do important work.

- So the mission of KinderSmile Foundation is to provide underserved children and families with access to oral health education and dental care.

We were founded in 2007, and in the last 16 years, we've offered dental care to over 43,000 children.

- How much did the pandemic hurt the effort to provide quality accessible dental care, particularly for younger people in underserved communities?

How bad was the impact?

- It was large.

So during the pandemic, we originally closed for three and a half months, just like the rest of the dental field.

And usually pre-pandemic, we used to go to schools and community centers and offer preventive care at schools and community centers.

And for those three years, we hardly did any visits.

This year, we finally were able to go back to our community, and already this year we've served almost a thousand children at schools and community centers.

So during the pandemic, kids were more sedentary, they ate more snack foods, they were less active, and, you know, cavities really expanded.

And access to care has, you know, been difficult for a lot of those children.

- Doctor, to put this in perspective.

Help people understand why oral care for young people is so incredibly important, because it isn't just, I shouldn't say that, it's beyond cavities.

- So we say that oral health is the gateway to total health and wellbeing.

We know that oral health affects the entire body.

So periodontal disease can affect heart disease, diabetes, it could affect lots of things in the body, including leading to death.

So when KinderSmile first founded, it was founded after the death of Deamonte Driver who died in Maryland.

He was 12 years old and died from infection, a tooth infection that traveled to the brain.

And that was kind of the catalyst to why this foundation was first founded.

- Wait, there was a 12 year old boy, where?

- In Maryland - And it was what?

- It was a tooth infection.

He had an abscess and they lacked access to care.

They lost their Medicaid.

Mom tried to take him to different places.

It just wasn't the right timing for them unfortunately.

And he ended up in the hospital for two weeks with a brain infection and ended up dying from a brain infection, from a tooth infection that traveled to the brain.

And he's just one case, so there had been others.

But this is the one that was the catalyst for this foundation, and for a lot of changes that happened in Maryland since then in terms of access to care, and changes in Medicaid and everything that happened in that state.

- Doctor, you talk about Maryland, is it state by state, you know, oral care, dental care, for the underserved community?

Is it state by state or is it national policy?

- Nationally, Medicaid is required to cover dental care, but each state makes their own decisions about how that dental care is covered by Medicaid.

So in New Jersey we have five MCOs, which are the Managed Care Organizations that cover the Medicaid children.

In Maryland, that was changed to one, one Medicaid provider after that death.

Here we have five Medicaid providers, MCOs and each reimbursed at a different rate.

And the rates of those reimbursements are much lower than the rate that New Jersey allows for Medicaid reimbursements to be.

So unfortunately, we don't have enough Medicaid providers to be able to provide access to all the children that are covered by Medicaid.

- So we're gonna continue to put up the website for KinderSmile, KinderSmile Foundation.

Question, what are dental homes, A?

And B, where are they?

- A dental home is a place where a child is linked to for permanent dental care.

So having a dental home eliminates the need for families to go to emergency rooms for preventable dental diseases.

So dental disease is preventable and a lot of people who are not linked to a permanent dental home, meaning they don't have an actual dentist of their own, end up going to the emergency rooms for the dental needs, for emergency pain, infection, swelling.

Those visits cost the taxpayers $749 per visit for up to $2 billion in the United States every year.

- How'd you get involved in this?

- So when I went to dental school, my whole entire dental career, I always wanted to do public health.

I always wanted to be involved in public health.

My residency was related to public health.

And when I came out of school after my kids were born, and I was ready to go back to school, I found KinderSmile and I started volunteering with KinderSmile as a provider in schools and community centers, yeah.

And then went to do another job for, you know, in schools and community centers.

And then came back to KinderSmile as a program dentist and then became COO.

- Where's your funding come from?

- A lot of it comes from reimbursements.

Even though the reimbursements per patient are very minimal for Medicaid reimbursements, about 80% of our patients, or 75% of our patients are reimbursed by Medicaid.

We also get grants, donations, fundraising, and yeah.

And volunteer providers.

Some volunteer providers.

- Could you do that real quick?

Volunteer providers.

So these are dentists, dental oral health professionals who decide they are going to volunteer their time, correct?

- Yes.

So we have a program called "Give Back A Smile" program.

- What's it called?

"Give Back a Smile?"

- Yes, "Give Back a Smile."

And that offers volunteer dentists and dental hygienists the opportunity to come and serve uninsured children.

So whether they do it two hours a month, or one school visit a month, or every week, we appreciate every minute of their time.

- Real quick, before I let you go, I was reading an article in New York Times the other day about that there are fewer dental hygienists, or there people are moving around and so dentists are doing more work that others are doing, and I don't want to complicate things, but has the pandemic impacted your industry?

You're shaking your head.

Go ahead.

- Yes.

Yes.

So there's a huge thing, that's why you read about it in the New York Times.

There's a huge thing right now about workforce development in the dental field.

So dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants have all kind of moved away from joining this field it appears because of the pandemic.

So it was a very high-risk profession during the pandemic, 'cause the aerosols that we produced during our treatment, aside from everything else that everyone else was experiencing, the aerosols that we produce were making it high-risk.

- Where are we now?

Where are we now with this?

- Everyone is trying to hire dental assistants and dental hygienists.

So we definitely want more people to join the field.

- Incredibly important.

Dr. Herman, is the COO of KinderSmile Foundation.

Check out their work.

You're doing important work, particularly for those who are underserved and need dental care, because as you said, say that again, the pathway to all other, put that in perspective.

- Oral health is the gateway to overall health and wellbeing.

- Well said.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- Important work.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Delta Dental of New Jersey.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

RWJBarnabas Health.

NJM Insurance Group.

PSEG Foundation.

The New Jersey Education Association.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Prudential Financial.

And by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Promotional support provided by BestofNJ.com.

And by ROI-NJ.

Hey, kids, PBS Kids and Delta Dental want you to have a healthy smile.

So here are some tips for you to remember.

Number one, eat plenty of crunchy fruits and vegetables.

Number two, brush your teeth after eating sugary snacks or drinking sodas.

And number three, drink lots of water to wash away food particles.

When your teeth are happy, all of you is happy.

From PBS Kids and Delta Dental.

Have a healthy smile.