'Real breakthrough': Virginia to launch Medicaid dental benefit for adults

Dr. Cynthia Southern expects the phone to ring often in her Pulaski County dental office beginning Thursday, when Virginia expands its Medicaid program to provide a comprehensive dental benefit to poor adults. More than 750,000 Virginians will become eligible for a benefit that the state believes will transform their health, help them land jobs and make eating a pleasure again. "A lot of people in our area are going to use that benefit," said Southern, whose practice in the town of Pulaski serves not only the county, but also surrounding jurisdictions in the mountains of rural Southwest Virginia about 50 miles south of Roanoke.