Online-only: Dental therapists provide safe care for underserved populations, report finds
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* Teddi Dineley Johnson

Dental therapists provide safe, competent and appropriate care, a new report finds.

Released in November by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in partnership with Rasmuson Foundation and Bethel Community Services Foundation, the report, “Evaluation of the Dental Health Aide Workforce Model in Alaska,” supports the findings of previous research conducted in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada showing that dental therapists help expand oral health care access in underserved communities as part of a comprehensive system of care managed by dentists.

Alaska is presently the only state in the nation using dental therapists to bring sorely needed dental care to underserved communities. Launched in 2005, Alaska’s dental therapist program provides preventive and basic dental care to children and families in remote Native Alaskan villages accessible only by airplane, boat, four-wheeler or snowmobile. Taking its cue from Alaska, Minnesota in 2009 enacted a law authorizing dental therapists to practice and is now training students in this emerging profession. Other states, including California, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, are also exploring dental therapists as a new work force.

“It is time now for more states and tribal nations to seriously consider new and proven approaches — such as the dental therapist model — as a way to bring critically needed oral health care services to vulnerable children and families,” said Sterling K. Speirn, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “Oral health is essential to overall health, yet good, regular oral health care is out of reach for far too many people in this country.”

Although new to the United States, dental therapy has been well-established for decades in more than 50 countries, including those with advanced dental care systems similar to that of the United States. According to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, dental therapists receive two years of intensive training — more than 3,000 hours — to provide preventive oral health care and commonly needed services such as fillings and uncomplicated extractions. They work under the general supervision of an off-site dentist who pre-approves the procedures they perform and reviews their work via phone, fax and Internet.

“Too many communities cannot get care because they cannot afford it, and there are no providers in their community,” said David Jordan, director of the Dental Therapist Project at Community Catalyst, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to bringing quality, affordable health care to all. “To meet the nation’s unmet oral health needs, we need to extend the reach of dental care to underserved communities by adding new members to the dental team.”

Efforts to increase access to oral health care took a major step forward in November, thanks in part to a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The $16 million grant will support community-led efforts in Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Vermont and Washington to increase access to oral health care by adding dental therapists to dental teams. The money will also be used to inform other states as they struggle with how to address increasing oral health needs.

For more information or to download “Evaluation of the Dental Health Aide Workforce Model in Alaska,” visit [www.wkkf.org](http://www.wkkf.org).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association