Houston County dental pilot increases utilization; county, Delta Dental and providers expand mobile visits

Houston County commissioners heard a progress report on a county-led dental access pilot that organizers say has increased dental utilization by roughly 70% and expanded local mobile-clinic visits to twice a month.

The pilot, which county staff and Delta Dental representatives said began with stakeholder meetings in 2023 and launched formal interventions in February 2024, combines traveling dentists, mobile-clinic visits by Children's Dental Services, and a care-coordination process between health plans, county staff and local dental offices.

County staff member John Jordan described the initiative’s origins and partners, saying the effort convened local providers, managed-care organizations and mobile vendors to troubleshoot barriers that kept patients from finding care. "We invited the providers within the county because none of them were taking MA patients or seeing MA clients," Jordan said, and the collaborative moved to recruit a traveling dentist and secure seed funding.

Rich DeMarco, a representative of Delta Dental Minnesota, told the board Delta provided project management and worked with the county’s care coordination to schedule appointments and align resources. "With a handful of interventions, the utilization increased by 70% in Houston County, between May and December compared to the previous year," DeMarco said.

County public health staff said the pilot relies on multiple funding sources and partner grants to cover non-billable costs of bringing mobile services to the county. Mary Zafke, identified as the county’s public health nurse, described the referral and coordination work she and health educator Bree Caesar perform to connect residents to providers. Zafke said mobile clinics set up in the public health building’s clinic or immunization space and that Children's Dental Services provides both hygiene and treatment services when on site.

Organizers said Children's Dental Services and other mobile vendors can see between seven and 10 patients per day when deployed, that adult patients have been served (staff said they had treated patients into their late 90s), and that the county’s current funding supports the traveling dentist coming twice a month for at least the next six months. Partners named by staff include Delta Dental, UCare (which provided initial grant funding), Children's Dental Services, Hermann Dental (Caledonia), Houston Dental (Houston) and Destination Dental (La Crescent).

Board members and staff emphasized the challenge of securing ongoing funding. DeMarco and county staff said Delta and other partners have provided grants or project support but that additional grant dollars or payer commitments will be needed to sustain or expand the mobile schedule. "The key is to find the future funding for this," a commissioner said.

Organizers said the pilot’s care-coordination model — when county staff, the dental office and the payer align to schedule and support an appointment — was a critical learning and an element they expect could scale to other rural counties.

County staff asked that referral and consent forms be requested through the public health office or downloaded from the county website; staff noted the pilot’s referral form and consent process route requests to the appropriate partner.

The board thanked staff and partners and asked county staff to continue outreach for funding and to monitor utilization and service outcomes as the pilot continues through the next year.