ODA issues statement against dental therapist proposal
For Immediate Release
March 1, 2016
Ohio Dental Association President Dr. Chris Connell, a general dentist from Lyndhurst, issued the following statement regarding the proposal to legalize dental therapists in Ohio:
“Legalizing dental therapists would be detrimental to the oral health of Ohioans and would be an unnecessary distraction from the progress being made in addressing the critical issue of access to dental care in Ohio. This plan proposes inadequate training for such a broad scope of practice that includes irreversible surgical procedures such as the cutting of gum and tooth structure with a high speed drill, extractions and restorations. The General Assembly just passed House Bill 463 a little more than a year ago, which includes some of the nation’s most aggressive access to dental care reforms, including doubling the capacity of the Ohio Dentist Loan Repayment Program, which has already incentivized dozens of dentists to provide care in professional shortage areas, creating opportunities for expanded function dental assistants to provide preventive dental procedures to Ohio patients and allowing dental hygienists to initiate preventive dental care in underserved settings outside the presence of a dentist. These progressive reforms just became effective in March 2015 so let’s give them a chance to work.”
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About the Ohio Dental Association
The Ohio Dental Association represents more than 5,000 member dentists, nearly 75 percent of the state’s licensed dentists. ODA member dentists provide more than $40 million in donated care and services annually, and they are bound by the highest ethical standards and have access to superior ongoing education, training and resources
Media Contacts:
David Owsiany, JD
Ohio Dental Association Executive Director
(614) 486-2700
david@oda.org