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Missouri meets half of the eight policy benchmarks aimed at addressing children’s dental health needs. The state notably falls short in providing dental care to Medicaid-enrolled children. Just 30 percent of Missouri children received even basic dental care in the most recent year for which data are available. The state reports that it does not have a school-based sealant program.

Almost one-quarter of Missouri’s population live in federally-designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas, and more than a million of those people are estimated to have no reasonable expectation of finding a dentist to see them.