As we move toward UHCAN Ohio’s Day at the Statehouse, when we will to ask our legislature to allow Dental Therapists to practice in Ohio to address the lack of access to dental care, it is important to provide answers to the most pressing questions often raised about the dental therapist.

When the issue of adding new health professionals (e.g. nurse practitioners, physician assistants) to the physician-led team surfaced, Ohio providers at first vigorously fought the new professionals, eventually acquiesced, and then over time recognized that nurse practitioners and physician assistants were essential to the provider team. During the debates, the issues of education and supervision were raised about these new providers. When it comes to dental therapists in Ohio, organized dentistry is still in the fighting stage, but we know it’s only a matter of time before dental therapists are as celebrated as nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

The adequate training and education of Ohio’s future dental therapist students was addressed recently when the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) agreed to implement education standards, which were approved last February. This landmark CODA decision followed by several years the development of a curriculum for dental therapists commissioned by the American Association of Public Health Dentists and completed by a group of the country’s most esteemed dental educators.

Regarding the concern about supervision, which typically stems from our proposal to allow the dental therapist to operate under general (remote) supervision or not under direct supervision of the dentist, the following restrictions should be considered:

• After a rigorous CODA-approved education with more clinical experience than most dental schools require of their students, the dental therapist will take an Ohio State Dental Board exam and apply for a license.
• Once licensed, the dental therapist will complete a 400-hour preceptorship under the direct supervision of a licensed Ohio dentist.
• At the end of this preceptorship, the dentist and the dental therapist will develop standing orders, which specify those procedures the dental therapist is allowed to perform.
• If the dentist feels that the dental therapist is lacking in the competent execution of a particular authorized procedure, these do not go on the approved procedures agreement and the dental therapist is not allowed to perform them until such time as the dental therapist receives remedial training and the dentist approves them.

In all cases, the supervising dentist will choose:

• whether or not to hire a dental therapist;
• whether the dental therapist will be allowed to operate remotely; and
• the kinds of procedures the dental therapist will perform.

We trust that Ohio’s licensed dentists have been adequately vetted, well-educated, and properly licensed and are capable of making the kinds of hiring and supervisory decisions which will best meet the needs of their patients.

While these questions require evidence-based answers, there is little question about the lack of access to routine dental care for many Ohioans. There are 84 areas all across Ohio that are already identified by the Ohio Department of Health as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. These HPSAs include most Appalachian counties, parts of rural northwestern Ohio, much of southwest Ohio, and parts of every major metropolitan community in the state. By definition, these are areas where there just aren’t enough dentists to meet the community’s needs. Dental therapists will make it easier for children and families in underserved communities to get high-quality, affordable dental care where they live.