New Age of Dentistry (cont.)

Yet it’s uncertain just how quickly that expansion might happen. At press time, lawmakers in California, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio and Vermont were considering whether to allow dental therapists. Similar legislation could be introduced in Washington state by 2012.

The major obstacle to getting dental therapists in more states appears to be ADA. In an interview with Consumers Digest, ADA President Raymond F. Gist, who is a dental surgeon, says he opposes dental therapy because of patient-safety concerns. He notes that dental therapists undergo 2 years of dental training, whereas licensed dentists are required to have 4-year college degrees and complete 4 years of specialized dental and medical training. Kellogg and other advocates for dental therapists say 2 years is enough training for the types of limited treatments that they provide. Of course, advocates for dental therapists also say ADA opposes dental therapists because these new practitioners pose a financial threat to established dentists.

But results of an independent study that was published in—of all places—the March 2011 issue of Journal of the American Dental Association found that the work of dental therapists in Alaska boasted “outcomes comparable with those of dentists treating the same populations.” In other words, the quality of their work matched what the patients would have received from dentists but at a fraction of the cost.

That sounds like the kind of treatment that would make anyone smile.

Molly M. Ginty has been a health reporter for 15 years and is a regular contributor to Consumers Digest.