A Kansas Policymaker's Guide to Registered Dental Practitioners: Inspired by Global Practices, a Homegrown Solution to Kansas' Oral Health Crisis

Abstract

Mid-level dental providers provide preventive and restorative care in more than 50 countries around the world. Their quality of care and acceptance by the public has been well-documented as a safe and effective way to improve access to dental care to underserved populations. In Kansas, children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and Kansans living in rural communities are impacted directly by the state's dental workforce shortage. All Kansans are affected in some way, whether it is through higher costs for dental services, increased insurance premiums, a growing burden of uncompensated care on our community hospitals and clinics, longer wait times to see a dentist, longer distances to travel to see a dentist, or the inability to see a dentist at all. As the Kansas Legislature considers legislation to add Registered Dental Practitioners to the dental team, best practices in other countries can help guide and inform their oral health care decisions. This is an examination of the Kansas proposal in the global context and a review of lessons learned from three representative countries. Inspired by global practices, Registered Dental Practitioners offer a market solution to Kansas' dental workforce problem while offering associated dentists more time to focus on the complex procedures they are trained to do.