Local community clinics say a lot fewer people are coming in for dental care. California eliminated dental benefits to adults on Medi-Cal on July 1st.
Dental benefits were one of ten Medi-Cal services that lawmakers eliminated in order to save money.
As a result, local community clinics say they've seen between a 20 and 80 percent decline in Medi-Cal patients who used to receive dental care.
Gary Rotto is with the Council of Community Clinics. He says patients can still get treated.
"The clinics do have a sliding scale, and that is based upon a person's income and size of family," Rotto points out. "But for many people that's still a great barrier in this economic time to coming into continuing care."
Doctors say putting off routine dental care can cause more serious health problems down the line.
