Dental therapists a way to boost care for those in need

Millions of people in Michigan don’t have access to the dental care that contributes to healthy, productive lives. When people don’t get the dental care they need, it can lead to serious problems, including agonizing pain and dangerous infections.

The costs of untreated dental disease not only include absences from school or work and reduced productivity, it also impacts prices in the broader health care market. A 2014 study by the Anderson Economic Group found Michigan had more than 7,000 emergency room visits in 2011 that resulted from preventable dental issues. More than 1,000 of these visits turned into hospitalizations, and about half of them were for treatment of cavities. It is estimated that treating symptoms from preventable dental conditions in an emergency room costs about five times more than the cost of treating them in a dentist’s office.

The lack of access to care disproportionately impacts women, children and seniors with low incomes, many of whom rely on public insurance, like Medicaid. In 2015, only 10% of practicing dentists in Michigan saw one or more adults on Medicaid. Of the 6,641 active licensed dentists in the state in 2015, only 251 billed $10,000 or more to Medicaid.

That’s why a number of organizations in the state support legislation that would allow dentists to hire a new type of dental professional called a dental therapist. Dental therapists would work under the supervision of a dentist to help provide basic dental care to people who don’t currently have access to care. Sen. Mike Shirkey has introduced Senate Bill 1013 to license dental therapists in our state. The bill requires a dental therapist to graduate from a program approved by the same body that accredits Michigan’s current dental schools and dental hygiene training programs. SB 1013 would require that at least 50% of dental therapists’ patients be low-income, disabled or uninsured.

Michigan would join Minnesota, Maine and Vermont, and American Indian tribes in Alaska, Washington and Oregon, which use dental therapists. More than 50 countries around the world have also successfully used mid-level dental providers like dental therapists for years, and the research shows that they provide high-quality care and increase access for underserved people.

Our organizations typically don’t see eye-to-eye on solutions for public policy issues, but on this one we agree. Dental therapists would be a smart way to help more people in Michigan get access to dental care and improve their health. SB 1013 does that, and we encourage lawmakers to support it in the final session days of 2016.

Gilda Z. Jacobs is the president & CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy. Michael Van Beek is director of research at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.