Solutions for Increased Access to Quality Dental Care
The Minnesota Dental Association is committed to healthy solutions that maintain the highest standards of oral health and close the gap in access to care. A commitment to making sure that every Minnesotan has access to quality care is the top legislative priority of the Minnesota Dental Association.
Minnesota has been a national leader in terms of progressive and innovative ways to address access and we should build upon it. The Minnesota Dental Association has developed an innovative comprehensive plan that improves access to underserved populations while maintaining quality care.
THE VIEW TODAY
Innovative steps taken to provide access include:
Collaborative Agreements for Dentists and Dental Hygienists. These allow hygienists to administer preventive care outside of a dental office while working under the supervision of a dentist and are very useful in providing preventive care to low income populations. Programs such as these address the dental access problem but ensure that comprehensive care from a dentist is available to patients
Restorative Expanded Functions for registered dental assistants and dental hygienists. These expanded functions allow dental assistants and hygienists with advanced training to place simple fillings, with a dentist on-site providing appropriate supervision.
Minnesota Model for Head Start Children, which assures that every child in Head Start, receives an annual screening and is connected with a dentist for any needed treatment.
Give Kids a Smile, which has provided free dental care to more than 30,000 children in need. In 2007, this statewide program delivered more than $1.7 million dollars of free care thanks to the generous volunteer efforts of the dental community. Just this month, more than 6,000 children received comprehensive treatment for free including sealants, fluoride treatments, fillings and, if necessary, extractions.
Donated Dental Services Program in which vulnerable adults are paired with a dentist who agrees to donate all necessary care and treatment for the patient on an on-going basis. Over 200 dentists currently participate in the program.
The Oral Healthcare Solutions Project Model, which is an innovative community-based model for delivering care to the underserved.
2008 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Current Legislative focus should be on expanding existing programs designed to meet access. Specifically:
- Improve access by strengthening existing partnerships between dentists and hygienists. To ensure low-income people receive preventive dental care, the legislature needs to continue promoting collaborative agreements that allow hygienists to administer preventive care outside of a dental office. While initial results have been promising, these programs have not been in place long enough to determine their success.
- Improve access through creating a uniform public dental program model statewide. Currently the Minnesota Department of Human Services is using nine different health plans to provide oral health care services under a variety of rules. This is inefficient for dentists and does not provide the best care for our patients. Lawmakers should replace this inefficient infrastructure with a single-administrator public dental program statewide.
- Expand and revise the dentist loan forgiveness program to include internationally-educated dentists and dental hygienists who practice under collaborative agreements and who agree to serve in underserved communities for a designated period.
- Explore the creation of a Community Dental Health Coordinator in Minnesota. The CDHC would work with dentist supervision in health centers and with community groups to promote dental health and prevention in remote areas and low-income communities.