Here in Massachusetts, MassHealth is one of the most common dental insurance programs for families. At My Smile Experience we take MassHealth insurance. You may wonder what MassHealth covers for you and your children. The best resource is to go to MassHealth’s own website and figure out you and your children’s dental benefits. But here are a few common benefits everyone receives under MassHealth.

MassHealth Dental’s Covered Services For Children
MassHealth provides children two dental cleanings per year. During a dental cleaning, a dental hygienist will help remove plaque, floss, and clean the teeth to help prevent future build-up of plaque. Frequently, a dental cleaning will also include routine X-rays.

These are also covered by insurance and are helpful for the dental exam. After a cleaning, your child’s dentist will examine their teeth for any signs of decay or gum disease. MassHealth Dental covers a variety of procedures that can help reverse and treat dental decay and gum disease these include:

Dental Services Covered By MassHealth
• Dental Crowns: A dental crown is a synthetic cap that can be placed on a tooth that has started to decay. The tooth is ground down slightly and then a crown is fused to the end of the tooth.
• Tooth Extractions: Sometimes, children require their primary teeth to be removed in order to make room for their adult teeth to come in correctly, in these cases, a dentist will perform a tooth extraction.
• Oral Surgery: Oral surgery includes a variety of procedures, one of the most common is the removal of impacted wisdom teeth for teens and adults. Wisdom tooth extraction requires surgery as the teeth may not come through the gum line.
• Dental Fillings: A cavity is caused by the erosion of a tooth’s enamel due to acid foods, sugary foods, and a variety of other factors. A dental filling can be used to stop a cavity from growing by removing the infected section of the tooth and filling it with a different material.
• Dental Sealants (for adult molars): Dental sealants are a form of tooth decay prevention. They are often done on adult molars as they can protect your children’s teeth from cavities. MassHealth covers dental sealants for adult molars, which is the most common application.
• Root Canal Treatments: In the past, if a tooth decayed near the root the only choice was usually to extract the tooth and install an implant, but root canal treatments can remove the decay and save the tooth.
• Orthodontic treatment: MassHealth only covers children and youth under 21 for orthodontic treatment(Braces).
• Other medically necessary dental services: There are a variety of other procedures that if your dentist deems are medically necessary, MassHealth will likely cover. Talk to your dentist to learn more.

More Information on MassHealth Coverage
A variety of the above procedures need to be approved by MassHealth prior to the dentist providing them. Your dentist will let you know what procedures are included and what procedures require approval prior to scheduling the procedure. Your dentist can handle the approval request on your behalf. Generally speaking as long as the procedure is a medical necessity, there is no issue covering it. Cosmetic dentistry may not be covered by MassHealth. For more information please contact us!