(Ashland, OR) As many as one in five children here in the Rogue Valley may now be going without very basic dental care, according to Dr. Dan Marut of Today’s Dentistry in Ashland. “As the economy suffers… many families can no longer afford the very basics, including dental care. This means that common childhood dental problems go undiagnosed… which then only makes that dental problem much worse down the road.” Dr. Marut points to a recent article in USA Today. “Our problem here is not as bad as it is in some places around the country… but way too many local families just cannot afford dental insurance or dental checkups for their kids. This is really not acceptable.”
Dr. Marut’s answer to the problem was to help create a new national network of reduced fee dental services called Quality Dental Plan (QDP). Ashland was one of the first towns in the nation to fully implement this plan… which includes free basic dental checkups for adults and children when they first join. “We looked at the costs associated with giving quality dental care to our patients,” said Dr. Marut, “and we saw that we could significantly reduce our treatment rates if we saw patients early in the process and encouraged the whole family to take part in good and on-going care.” Dr. Marut points out that many common dental health problems… especially among children… are easily addressed, but become much more costly and time consuming if left unattended. “When a kid is in pain…they miss school. Even worse, the cost to treat a painful situation can be three or four times more expensive than it would have been if the problem had been diagnosed and treated a few months earlier.”
Quality Dental Plan has begun to receive national attention for its innovative approach to health care… with Dr. Marut and Dr. Warr at Today’s Dentistry being one of the first in the nation to understand the significance. “So much of our cost to provide dental services to the community goes to things that really don’t help our patients… like insurance administrative charges. QDP allows us to cut those costs significantly… which means that we can sharply reduce our basic dental service fees and offer things like free basic checkups for children and adults. That helps us help the people of our community and helps them save a great deal of money on the dental care they need. I feel really good about that,” says Dr. Marut. Were Dr. Marut and Dr. Warr nervous about trying something new like QDP in these tough economic times? “No, not at all,” they said. “Our core mission has always been to help the people of the Rogue Valley have the best and most affordable dental care possible. Right from the start… Quality Dental Plan has helped us with that mission.”
Today’s Dentistry is located at
1530 Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland.
Call 541-482-7771 to schedule an appointment
