Will Medicaid Cover Porcelain Veneers for My Son’s Teeth?

Posted by writeradmin

My son has some decay on his front teeth. He’s only five and they are baby teeth so they are going to fall out, but I was thinking I could cover them with tiny porcelain veneers so that they don’t look bad. The problem is we are on Medicaid. Will they cover veneers?

Elaine

Dear Elaine,

Dental Medicaid will only cover the bare minimum procedure to fix something. If there is decay, Medicaid would help with the removal of the decay, but would not pay for a cosmetic procedure like porcelain veneers. You would be hard pressed to find a dentist willing to put veneers on a child anyway.

This is because some of their enamel has to be removed and their teeth and jaws are still growing. That means that you will have to replace them every few years as he grows.

There are bigger issues here that you may not be aware of. While baby teeth do fall out, that decay will keep getting worse. As decay grows it will turn into a dental emergency. Even in children it is best to deal with decay sooner rather than later. You’ll find treating their teeth regularly (or not treating them), will also have an impact on their general health as well.

Get him in to see a pediatric dentist before it blows up and he needs a pulpotomy. This is a child’s version of a root canal treatment.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Theriot and DeJean.
We accept Medicaid.