Dental therapists are to dentistry what physician assistants are to the field of medicine. In the November issue of Health Affairs, a dental health aide in Alaska explains why this profession could be part of the solution to the lack of oral health care services plaguing so many American communities.
Conan Murat of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation describes his job doing “the routine work that takes up most of the dentist’s day” and how the profession is expanding access to dental care. He outlines some of the barriers preventing dental health aides from realizing their full potential in the workforce and highlights the progress in Alaska — replicable throughout the U.S. — achieved through a better understanding of the role of these aides as well as reforms to the education system.
To read the article online, go to www.healthaffairs.org and click on the online November issue.
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The legal impact of dental therapists
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