Dear DrBicuspid Member,
Maine lawmakers are slowly advancing new legislation that would allow dental therapists to practice in the state.
Last week a labor committee approved the bill, "An Act to Improve Access to Oral Health Care," 7-5 after heated debate. The bill would create a license that would require therapists to graduate from a dental hygiene therapy program and complete 1,000 hours of clinical training supervised by a dentist. The therapists would be allowed to operate a practice in Maine if they have a supervisory agreement with a licensed dentist.
Click here to read who opposes and who supports the bill, which now goes to the House of Representatives for review.
In a related story, dental care advocates in California have been urging Gov. Jerry Brown to use unexpectedly higher tax revenues to reinstate dental benefits for adult beneficiaries of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program.
But when the governor announced his revised 2013-2014 state budget last week, it did not include adult dental services -- despite 100% matching federal funds that will be available for people who will be eligible for Medi-Cal under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Read more.
Meanwhile, more than 400 dental practitioners attended Straumann's second symposium on dental implant complications last week, where they were treated to insights from an expert panel that included Ronald Jung, DMD, PhD; Stuart Froum, DDS; and Paul S. Rosen, DMD. Read their advice on such issues as immediate placement and routine probing here.
Finally, should every orthodontic patient undergo a cone-beam CT scan prior to beginning treatment? The findings of a recent study in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics might surprise you.
