Why sign up for Take 5?

Take 5 asks each NC Dental Society member dentist to treat at least five Medicaid patients or families each year. As a dentist, you know the vital importance of good dental care and good oral health. The NC Dental Society and its leadership understand how important it is ensure that vulnerable North Carolinians receive the quality dental care only a dentist can provide. Those who lack access to a dentist—often because of economic need—can end up visiting expensive hospital emergency rooms for what should have been routine dental procedures. This causes needless hardship for the affected patients and also drives up costs for all North Carolinians.

Take 5 complements established charity programs like the NC Dental Society Foundation’s Mission of Mercy and Give Kids a Smile that have helped bridge the gap and provide critical dental care to North Carolinians. This program continues the dental profession’s commitment of making North Carolina healthier through access to a dentist.

If every North Carolina dentist accepted a modest number of Medicaid patients, it could make a profound difference in the oral health of some of North Carolina’s most vulnerable people. In that spirit, it’s important that the dental community step-up and care for covered Medicaid patients. These are the patients who need us the most.

If I sign up for Take 5, am I signed up to see Medicaid patients?

Signing up for Take 5 and enrolling with Medicaid are two separate processes.

How do I enroll with Medicaid to begin seeing patients now?

To start the provider enrollment process, go to ncid.nc.gov to obtain an NCID and click on Register (as a “business”).  Then go to the NCTracks website at https://www.nctracks.nc.gov/content/public/providers/provider-enrollment.html and click on Getting Started with Enrollment.

Can I really limit the number of Medicaid patients I see in my practice?

In North Carolina, a dental practice is always free to cap the size of its Medicaid caseload at a level that is viable for its business plan. This is what the Take 5 initiative is all about. Dentists can also choose whether they are publicly listed in Medicaid provider databases so that patients can contact their offices directly for appointments, or whether they participate in Medicaid on the basis of referrals from other practitioners and are not publicly listed in provider directories.

Is 5 patients enough? Will it really help address the need?

We hope that in Taking 5, dentists will have a positive experience with the Medicaid program and will be willing to take many more patients in their practices as they become familiar with the program. This has been the experience in some other states. We recognize that the Take 5 program represents a starting point, and hope it will grow to fully address North Carolina’s needs.

What rates will Medicaid pay?

Current rates can be found here: https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/providers/fee-schedules/dental-fee-schedules