While he had not known that Huntsman was considering trying to raise $2 million from the private sector to pay for the dental care, Valentine said: "We encourage the private sector to be in this activity. It is not a bad thing at all."

But Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake, said any kind of charity funding for the services "would just be a temporary filling." She said she hopes the person who is donating $1 million attends the next meeting of a special Medicaid legislative study committee "to see the extent" of the real problem, which needs ongoing funding.

Huntsman said he hopes that the federal government will reconsider its earlier decision to make dental care an optional Medicaid service. He said he plans to lobby his predecessor, Mike Leavitt, now U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, on the issue.

"There's a broader issue here we're going to have to deal with," Huntsman said. He said he wants to sit down in Washington, D.C., with Leavitt because dental services were "unfairly placed" in the optional category.

"I don't see dental services as less important," the governor said. "I will continue to fight in any way I can to cover this need. It's a very legitimate need." Even, he suggested, if that means going back to the Legislature again next year.

Atkinson said relying on private funds to pay for dental care should not be seen as a permanent solution.

"This is just a temporary measure," she said. "I think the legislators are very much aware of what the private sector has been contributing to various human services needs," stretching the resources of churches and nonprofits.

Cuts to adult dental and vision services for Medicaid patients first came during the tight budget years of 2002 and 2003. Many disabled and low-income Utahns are still struggling with health problems that arose due to the cuts during that time, Landers said.

"Many of us, our mouths are in such disarray that we're having such difficulties in trying to get well again that it has become a daily chore," she said. "They say it's an optional service, but it's not optional for us. You you can die from infection that you get in your mouth."

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Contributing: Bob Bernick Jr.

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com; awelling@desnews.com.