Ohio Dental Association opposes Senate Bill 330
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:
“Allowing undertrained individuals to perform irreversible surgical procedures 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. Accordingly, the Ohio Dental Association strongly opposes Senate Bill 330. This bill proposes inadequate training for such a broad scope of practice that includes irreversible surgical procedures such as the cutting of 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 increasing the capacity of the Ohio Dentist Loan Repayment Program, which has already incentivized dozens of dentists to provide care in professional shortage areas, creating the Ohio Dental Hygienist Loan Repayment Program, 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, 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