Preventive Dental Care Elusive for Minority Kids : Lack of access to a dentist willing to take Medicaid contributed to the septic death of one Maryland boy.

“This is the first time to our knowledge that such an association has been recognized for the U.S. pediatric population as a whole,” wrote Dr. Lewis and her associates.

They noted several possible explanations for this, including the fact that families with a regular doctor “may have values and attributes that also lead them to seek preventive dental care,” or that physicians play an important role in referring patients and reinforcing the importance of dental care.

“By whatever mechanism,” they wrote, “there exists a link between having a personal doctor and receiving preventive dental care that deserves additional attention and study.”