In your Oct. 12 report on testimony before the Greenfield Board of Health on the question of water fluoridation, dentist John Fisher remarked, “It reaches our underserved population more than any other way.”
He apparently failed to mention that poor people are underserved because the vast majority of dentists in Massachusetts don’t accept Mass Health (Medicaid). His statement could then be reworded to read: “It’s the people who are poor who are most penalized by not having access to dental care.”
On top of this, the Massachusetts Dental Society opposes the creation of dental therapists and hygienists who are trained to perform routine dental work precisely for those patients rejected by dentistry.
So it seems dentistry doesn’t want to treat poor people, and doesn’t want anyone else to treat them. That’s tough love.
Michael F. Dolan
Belchertown