Given the $600 million or so deficit in the Maine state budget, it is unlikely that LD 624 will be adopted, as Dr. Kristina Lake advocated in her April 26 piece in the Sun Journal.
But, in my opinion, she fails to address the real issue anyway. In the face of the growing economic crisis in this country, and the increasing suffering of so many, especially the indigent, it is the duty of us all, especially the better off, to help the less fortunate, and to share equitably in the suffering of all. Dentistry practices will not do that.
For the prosperous professions, that means pro bono work, in accordance with their oaths and the desperate needs of so many citizens.
My experience with dentistry has been that most dentists won’t even accept MaineCare; and those who do, render essentially welfare dentistry, not mainstream care, and certainly not restorative dentistry at all. A patient can get teeth pulled and replaced by dentures or, at best, an occasional cavity filled. That’s about it.
Dentists refuse to do the kind of pro bono work that law and medicine are well known for, and all of us are paying the price of their high incomes, especially those least able to afford it.
Paul Corrao, Lewiston
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