Dental Provider Workforce
San Joaquin County has continued to experience a shortage of dental providers and specialists to serve beneficiaries with Medi-Cal. To help with the expansion of the dental workforce, we plan to focus on recruitment initiatives and collaborative efforts with FQHCs to enhance community-based dental rotations for graduate dental provider students and other innovative strategies such as recruiting retiring dentists, tuition repayment programs, employing RDHAPs, etc.
There are not enough dental providers or federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to serve the County’s Medi-Cal population. The Medi-Cal population-to-provider ratio is almost four times greater than the state average and more than twice the generally accepted benchmark (1 dentist per 4,306 Medi-Cal eligible in San Joaquin County compared to 1 dentist per 1,100 population for the state average and 1 dentist per 2,000 Medi-Cal eligible benchmarks, respectively.1,2
Sign-up to be a Medi-Cal Dental Provider
Many San Joaquin County families are in need of essential dental services. Choosing to offer dental services to Medi-Cal recipients helps provide crucial dental services to those who need it most in our community and offers a personal and rewarding experience to providers and staff. Meet Medi-Cal Dentist Dr. Azad below and discover what it means to be a dental hero:
Medi-Cal Dental Provider Telephone Service Center
Providers may call Medi-Cal toll-free at 1-800-423-0507. The Telephone Service Center Representatives are available to answer phone calls between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
