The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies applauds a new report released yesterday by Community Catalyst on the practice patterns of dental therapists, who are mid-level providers of oral health care.  The report, entitled The Economic Viability of Dental Therapists, is the first assessment of how mid-level dental providers, specifically dental therapists, are practicing in the United States.  

Oral health care disparities are some of the deepest and most persistent health disparities in the United States.  People who have low incomes, children, racial and ethnic minorities, older adults and residents of rural communities face an array of barriers to accessing routine and preventive dental care. Yet dental disease is the number one chronic illness affecting children, and is more common than asthma. Seventy-two percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children aged six to eight have untreated cavities—more than twice the rate of the general population.  Thirty-seven percent of non-Hispanic black children and 41 percent of Hispanic children have untreated tooth decay, compared with 25 percent of white children.

The Economic Viability report assesses dental therapists practicing in Alaska and Minnesota, and finds that they have effectively expanded access to routine and preventive oral health care for low-income adults, children, and people living in tribal communities. The report finds that 85 percent of the care dental therapists provide is routine and preventive, and that dental therapists cost their employers less than 30 cents for every dollar of revenue they generate.

“The report comes at a time when more than a dozen states are exploring using mid-level dental providers as a way to greatly expand access to dental care,” said Brian D. Smedley, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of the Joint Center’s Health Policy Institute. “Eight states have put forward legislation seeking to authorize dental therapists. Several other states have called for studying the model further. Outside of the U.S., dental therapists have practiced successfully in more than 50 other countries for the better part of a century. We believe they are an important part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce and ultimately eliminate oral health care disparities.”
 

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