MADERA, Calif. – Rosa Cortez wasn't bothered so much that her teeth were crooked. What bothered the 17-year-old more was that her gums bled when she chewed on her food.
Cortez put up with it because her mother, Araceli, couldn't afford to get her checked by a dentist outside the Kaiser Permanente Child Health Plan in which Rosa had been enrolled at $180-a-year. That plan covered only dental cleaning.