Even before COVID-19, millions of people struggled every day to access oral health care, living with pain and unmet need. While we do not yet know the extent to which COVID-19 will exacerbate longstanding inequities in our oral health care system, it is certain that once this acute public health crisis abates, our nation’s oral health crisis will remain.
This brief explores several state policy options to respond to oral health care needs during this crisis and to carry us forward toward a more equitable oral health care system.