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The ADA Opposes New Model Legislation in Support of Dental Therapists

As millions of Americans lack access to dental care, dental therapy is a possible solution to bridge this gap, and the American Legislative Exchange Council recently adopted model legislation to further the profession. The ADA has come out against it.

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More than 75 million Americans, including over 32 million children, live in areas facing dental provider shortages, leaving millions without access to necessary oral healthcare. The communities hardest hit are often low-income families, people of color, the uninsured, and those in rural regions. To combat this crisis, dental therapists have been proposed as a key solution to expanding dental care access, particularly in areas where it is most needed.

Dental therapists are midlevel practitioners who, much like physician assistants in medicine, work under the supervision of a licensed dentist to perform routine and preventive dental care. Their training equips them to handle common procedures such as fillings, extractions, and prophylaxes, allowing dentists to focus on more complex treatments. This model has been successfully implemented in several states, demonstrating that dental therapists can increase patient access while reducing costs for clinics.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has recently adopted model legislation promoting the licensure of dental therapists in states across the country. This model, designed to address the growing access-to-care crisis, seeks to make dental therapy a more prominent and regulated profession, bringing care to underserved populations faster and more affordably. Proponents argue that employing dental therapists helps clinics reach more patients, shortens wait times, and lowers costs while maintaining a high standard of care.

Despite these benefits, the American Dental Association (ADA) has raised significant concerns regarding ALEC’s model legislation. In a letter to ALEC, the ADA expressed doubts about whether dental therapists, as proposed, could safely diagnose dental diseases or identify conditions such as oral cancer, tasks typically reserved for dentists.

The ADA also points to the lack of accreditation standards in ALEC’s model, emphasizing that dental therapists should graduate from Commission on Dental Accreditation-accredited programs to ensure consistent, high-quality training. Additionally, the ADA worries that dental therapy education programs are not financially viable unless heavily subsidized by the government, as seen in programs in states like Minnesota.

While the ADA has made its opposition clear, the potential for dental therapy to alleviate the dental workforce shortage remains significant. Ultimately, the goal is to find a balanced solution that prioritizes patient safety while meeting the urgent demand for dental care across America. Click here to read more.

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