How to find a Medicaid dentist

It can be tough to find a Medicaid dentist. Although Medicaid is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, government assistance programs out there, not every dentist accepts Medicaid patients. So how can you find a Medicaid dentist without visiting or calling every single dentist around you to no avail?

Ah, technology.

Don’t you just love it? You can watch cat videos with it. You can stalk your friends and family on Facebook with it. You can Google your own name and find yourself along with a bunch of random strangers with it. It’s great! But technology is about to become your best friend, once again, by helping you find a Medicaid dentist near you (yes, the internet is used for serious stuff, too).

The easiest way to get a list of local dentists who accept Medicaid insurance is by consulting the program’s provider directory. The provider directory is a guide to all the physicians in your whole state, which is usually organized by practice areas that will see and treat Medicaid patients. If you don’t have a paper copy of the directory, you can also get in contact with the Medicaid agency online or make a phone call for more information on Medicaid dentists.

The Texas Health and Human Services website is a good place to start!

The federal centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services agency have a website that can give you basic information on each state’s Medicaid program and links to the specific state’s Medicaid website. Also, private health organizations have their own directories that allow you to search for Medicaid dentists by state, geographic area, distance from your house, and name. High five to technology!

If all else fails, more technology!

If technology failed you the first time in helping you find a proper dentist, it will redeem itself by helping you in another way. Instead of asking around and visiting every dentist in a 10-mile radius, you can simply look up the dentist you’re considering. If you don’t know the names of the dentist offices around you, do a simple “Medicaid dentists near me” search on Google.

You could even visit a review site (like Yelp) that specializes in medical providers! Some sites get as specific as giving you names, addresses, pictures, ratings of the dentist made by patients, the dentist's educational background and a background check for sanctions and medical board actions.

Of course, a phone call to the dentist you’re thinking about visiting would also be wise, to make sure they really do accept Medicaid in case the site was wrong or outdated. Thank goodness today’s phones are pretty much mini-computers. Now you can do all your Medicaid dentist searches through one device!

Get the treatment you deserve

Everyone deserves quality dental treatment from a dentist they trust, regardless of their financial position or insurance status. While it can be a bit of a chore to find a dentist who accepts Medicaid, doing a little homework goes a long way. All you need is a phone, tablet or laptop to find the dentist that’s right for you. If you don’t have access to either of those, visit your local library and use a public computer there.