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Medicaid has a $495 cap, which wasn’t enough. Dental care shouldn’t be a luxury.” 7 creases in reimbursement rates may lead to some increases in access, increasing payment levels alone will not solve the access problem. Promoting Prevention and Education Dental caries are the most common infectious disease affecting humans and they can be prevented. We must ensure that all people get the preventive services and education they need to maintain oral health, especially those who do not have the resources to be immediately seen by a dentist when a problem develops. For example, drinking fluoridated water can have important oral health benefits for everyone, especially for those who are unable to access or afford dental care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized community water fluoridation as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 21st century.48 Furthermore, dental sealants - clear plastic coatings that provide a barrier to bacteria and are applied to the chewing surfaces of molars (the most cavityprone teeth) - prevent 60% of decay at one third the cost of filling a cavity.49 Still today, children from low-income families are less likely to receive sealants than their more affluent peers. We must also do much more to provide education that promotes oral health literacy, including education about good hygiene and oral health practices, for all people. CONCLUSION: WHY WE MUST ACT NOW February 25, 2012 marks the five-year anniversary of the tragic and untimely death of 12-yearold Deamonte Driver of Maryland. Deamonte died from an infected tooth. His Medicaid coverage had lapsed, and yet even with insurance, Deamonte’s mother struggled unsuccessfully for months to find a dentist who would see her children and accept their Medicaid coverage. More recently, in August 2011, 24-year-old Cincinnati father, Kyle Willis, died because he could not afford the antibiotics needed to treat his infected tooth. Sadly, there are many more stories like these which highlight the rare but extremely serious potential consequences of the lack of access to oral health care. In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General noted “there are profound and consequential disparities in the oral health of our citizens.”50 These inequalities and health disparities require the attention and action they deserve. Under our current system, low-income and minority families experience more oral disease, yet they receive less care. It is an ethical and moral imperative that we commit to providing access to dental care for all, both to improve health and also to reduce overall costs. We need to leverage the available workforce more effectively, produce more dentists and providers of dental care and, if needed, create new provider categories to ensure that everyone has access to the care they need. We need to redesign the oral health system by further integrating dental services into nontraditional settings, such as schools. We also need to prioritize preventive strategies and education which provide important health benefits to all people. The time to strengthen the oral health care system to improve oral health and overall health for millions of Americans is now. Purpose The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recognizes that providing both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care to individuals with special health care needs (SHCN) is an integral part of the specialty of pediatric dentistry.1 The AAPD values the unique qualities of each person and the need to ensure maximal health attainment for all, regardless of developmental disability or other special health care needs. These recommendations were intended to educate health care providers, parents, and ancillary