As the former director of the Office of Oral Health at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, I was most gratified to see The Sun’s high profile coverage of the pilot adult Medicaid dental program on the front page of the Sunday paper. It reminded me of another story on your front page many years ago about the then low access to dental services and high disease rates for poor Maryland children...

Bridget Morlan called the number on her first-ever dental insurance card and held her breath. After more than 30 years of dealing with broken teeth, gum infections and toothaches that landed her in the emergency room dozens of times, the Baltimore woman hoped the new coverage would make everything better...