New US research into economics of therapist treatment published
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- Published: Wednesday, 05 June 2013 07:58
- Written by News Editor
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The report is the first to analyse the economic viability of practising midlevel dental providers in the USA. It comes at a time when more than a dozen states are exploring using midlevel dental providers as a way to greatly expand access to dental care. According to the federal government, approximately 45 million people in the U.S. live in areas where there are not enough dentists to serve the population. Millions more can't afford dental care.
The report, Economic Viability of Dental Therapists, assessed dental therapists in practice between August 2011 and December 2012. Key findings include:
- The majority of services dental therapists provided (32.8%) were preventive; sealants (44 %) and fluoride varnishes (43%) were the most common preventive services.
- Less than a quarter (23.7%) of the care dental therapists provided was restorative and extractions represented just a fraction of care (3.8%).
- Restorative procedures represent the majority of revenue (46.7%) dental therapists generate. Preventive procedures account for 20.5 percent of revenue despite the fact that they are the most commonly performed procedures.
- Dental therapists primarily treat children, low-income adults, Native Americans and those who would not otherwise have access to dental care. Seventy-eight percent of dental therapists' patients in Minnesota were publicly insured and the majority were under 21. In Alaska, 66 percent of patients served by dental therapists were under 21.
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