OUR OPINION: Let dental therapists provide midlevel care
April 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm in Grand Forks Herald
When Minnesota puts its mind to it, the state still can lead the way.
One of the best recent examples now is unfolding in the field of dental care. In 2009, Minnesota became only the second state to license “dental therapists” midlevel practitioners who can fill cavities and pull teeth but not perform more complicated dental procedures. Continue Reading
It is true that Alaska was the first in this. The state faced huge opposition from the dental association. The dental association finally agreed to it when the state advised them if they did not agree to it a condition was going to be placed on all dental licenses. The condition was that EVERY dentist would have been required to provide one month of free dental services in the bush every year to maintain a license to practice. You could have a tall mt to climb Minnesota but the fact that Alaska has proven the value of this should help you.
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This is an extremely good idea! It has been done before by our neighbors to the north. The Province of Saskatchewan started training dental therapists back in 1973 (39 years ago!!!) and the first group of them began working in the schools in the province in 1974 under the guidance of a fully qualified dentist. But these ladies did most of the work on their own. The service to the children was OUTSTANDING and the results equally so. The history of this group can be viewed here: http://sdta.ca/history.html
I was working in the province at the time and saw the results first hand. Way to go Minnesota. I hope this program can proceed!
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If I can go to the cardiologist and only be seen by his PA I would think that this would be an easy decision to make.
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“Midlevel” Not “Midevil” as I read it the first time….Now that looked like a hell of a story….
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