University of Michigan researchers reviewed findings of 23 different studies conducted in six industrialized countries over the past 60 years that assessed the competency of of non-dentists performing a limited set of “irreversible” procedures such as fillings and extractions. In the United States, these procedures are typically done by dentists, and many dentists in the U.S. don’t want this change.
This new report comes at a time when America is looking at the value of adding dental therapists to the workforce to improve access to dental care for low income and geographically remote areas where populations aren’t privileged to have a lot of civilized technology. Currently, only two states in the U.S. allow dental therapists to work, Alaska and Minnesota, although legislation promoting the concept has been introduced in many other states.
Lead author Elizabeth Phillips, a researcher associate at the University of Michigan School of Social Work says the team became interested in this data when they learned about the access to care gap, and began the work hoping that dental therapists can catch momentum and be able to practice in other low income and remotely populated areas.
The researchers said they are not necessarily advocating the introduction of dental therapists. However, they do maintain that as the debate over their merits continues to intensify, clinical competence should not be a point of contention. The study, "Dental Therapists: Evidence of Technical Competence," is published online in the Journal of Dental Research.
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