Dental Advisory Committee (DAC)

Overview

The Virginia Medicaid Dental Advisory Committee serves as a cornerstone of stakeholder engagement and program oversight within Virginia's Medicaid dental program.  Established to guide the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) in the ongoing enhancement of dental services for Medicaid members,  The committee plays a critical role in fostering transparency, collaboration, and innovation in oral health policy and delivery. 

Key Aspects and Structure of the Program 

The Dental Advisory Committee (DAC) is a core part of Virginia’s Medicaid dental program.  The DAC serves as a formal forum where providers, state partners, stakeholders, and program leadership work together to strengthen access to oral health services for Medicaid members across the Commonwealth.  This collaboration helps ensure that Cardinal Care Smiles remains responsive to member needs, clinically appropriate, and sustainable for participating providers. 

The DAC provides guidance and feedback to the Medicaid dental program in several critical areas: 

• Access to care: Identifying barriers that prevent members, especially high-need groups like nursing facility residents, individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), and medically complex adults, from receiving timely dental services, and recommending practical solutions.
• Provider participation and workforce: Discussing provider recruitment, credentialing, and retention, including strategies to support community-based providers who serve Medicaid members.
• Innovation and special projects: Supporting pilot initiatives such as expanding mobile dental services to nursing homes or traveling provider models, teledentistry, and other approaches to close long-standing access gaps. 

The DAC’s role is advisory.  Program decisions remain with the agency, but the DAC feedback is actively incorporated into policy development, contract oversight, and strategic planning. 

Who Participates?

The committee is intentionally multidisciplinary. Membership typically includes:

• Practicing dentists who actively treat Medicaid members 
• Representatives from dental organizations and professional associations
• Academic partners
• Stakeholders who advocate for high-need populations such as residents in nursing facilities, individuals with disabilities, and members in rural and underserved regions 

This mix ensures that policy discussions are grounded in day-to-day clinical reality, while still aligned with program integrity, compliance, and fiscal responsibility.