NDA Journal 16 August 19, 2024 Page 3 Furthermore, dental therapy education programs exist only in three states – Minnesota, Alaska, and Washington – while dental schools and dental hygiene and dental assisting programs operate in virtually every state in the nation. Earlier this year a dental therapy education program at Metropolitan State University was suspended. We find, as well, that state investment in these programs tends to have a poor return. In Vermont, over $2.6 million in private, state, and federal funds have been spent on a still non-existent program intended for Vermont Technical College (VTC). A 2023 state auditiv identified several critical issues, including the potential misuse of funds as well as an inability of VTC to satisfy the conditions necessary for CODA accreditation. At best, VTC will be unable to enroll any students until 2027, even if all underlying concerns were fixed immediately. We acknowledge that the long-running debate over dental therapy has resulted in good faith efforts by the model’s author to improve upon initial proposals and address concerns in the dental community. However, underlying policy issues lead us to conclude that dental therapy is not a viable dental workforce innovation for state policymakers to pursue. The ADA believes a better and faster approach to address dental workforce shortages is to create state legislation and funding initiatives for existing dental education programs to address the current shortage of hygienists, dental assistants, and expanded function dental assistants who function efficiently in the current dental team model. The ADA encourages states to adopt policies incentivizing dentists and dental hygienists to work in rural and health provider shortage areas serving publicly insured patients by reducing their student loan burden as a quick, cost-effective pathway to help reduce the numbers of underserved populations while simultaneously delivering high-quality care. Community Dental Health Coordinators (CDHCs) who work closely with families to find appropriate care should also be supported within state health policies. We appreciate both your commitment to improving oral health and your diligent review of model legislation before you determine your final position this December. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss and develop innovative approaches and best practices we have identified that achieve the goal of improving access to care that are economically viable, expedient, and provide adequate protection of the public’s health. As such, we respectfully request that you do not support the dental therapy model legislation recently passed by the Health and Human Services Task Force. On behalf of the 159,000 members of the American Dental Association, thank you for considering our request. Please contact Jim Schulz, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, for more information at [email protected]. Sincerely, Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., M.Ed. President Raymond A. Cohlmia, D.D.S. Executive Director LJE:RAC:js i https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/workforce/oral/docs/2019dt.pdf Featured Article »
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