- More than one-third of all Michigan seniors have lost six or more natural teeth due to tooth decay or gum disease. Low-income seniors are more than three times as likely to have lost six or more teeth from tooth decay and/or gum disease.
- Almost 3 out of 4 new mothers in 2008 did not receive dental care during their most recent pregnancy. Research shows gum disease is associated with preterm birth.
- 66 percent of third-graders in the Upper Peninsula had a history of dental decay in their primary and/or permanent teeth, compared with 56 percent statewide.
This situation exists despite efforts in Michigan to create and expand meaningful supports, particularly expansion of the Healthy Kids Dental program, which will cover all children on Medicaid in all counties beginning next year. According to the 2016 University of Michigan’s Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit, approximately 40 percent of children covered under Healthy Kids Dental did not receive dental services in 2014.
Years of studies, reports and task forces show us there is no one solution to this problem. But one strategy that hasn’t been tried in Michigan yet is adding mid-level dental providers to our state’s workforce to expand access to care.
Senate Bill 1013, introduced earlier this month by Sen. Mike Shirkey, would authorize a type of midlevel dental professional called a dental therapist. These providers would be able, with appropriate training and licensing, to deliver routine but critically necessary care such as filling cavities.
Similar to a physician assistant on a medical team, dental therapists would not work independently, but under the supervision of a dentist. Only dentists who want to hire dental therapists to expand their practices would do so.
Right now many people in Michigan have difficulty finding a dentist who will see them. They may face those challenges because there are not enough dentists where they live, or because no dentist nearby accepts Medicaid, or because they have barriers to traditional dental settings like a physical disability.
One of the key provisions of SB 1013 is to ensure dental therapists help create access for underserved populations. The bill requires them to practice in safety net settings like a public clinic or that at least 50 percent of their patients are on Medicaid, uninsured or face other significant barriers to getting dental care.