From the clinic she works at in Nashville’s Napier neighborhood, Dr. Janine Moore treats dental patients from 28 different counties.
“I’ve had patients from Jackson, from Tullahoma. I’ve actually had a patient who was from outside of Chattanooga,” said Dr. Moore.
In Tennessee, there are just not enough dentists. The problem is even more exacerbated in rural communities and places where people are underinsured or uninsured.
This shortage has become apparent to Dr. Moore in the last few years.
“[To patients,] I’m like, ‘There was no place nearby that would see you?’ And they’ll say no. There was no place that was affordable that would take them or take their insurance,” Dr. Moore said.
Exactly how do you define “affordable dentists,” given that four years of college and another four four years of dental school are required to become a dentist, hundreds of thousands in tuition (perhaps $600-800,00) and perhaps as much more to set up an office, etc. Are you thinking of “accessible dentists” and bemoaning “unaffordable,” as part of that problem?
It has been over a century, since dentists of New Zealand, determined that part of a means to deal with that very same problem, was to create “Dental Nurses,” to provide basic dental care for Maoris. Their descendants, today’s Dental Therapists,” educated over six semesters within CODA ccredited community collegess continue to do just that, in AK, since 2005, MN since 2012 and more recently in WA, OR, ME and soon in MI and WI.
There has never been a shred of evidence generated, revealing lower quality, competency or more risk, than expectated frm dentists performing the exact same services (Scope.)
Not so long ago, a dental examiner stated that DTs pass clninical licensing exams at levels equal to dentists, sometimes even better.
If oral health is indeed essential for sysytem well being, as we dentists so often claim, given what the data tells us, is it ethical to discuss problems of affordable access to basic dental care, without dentist supervised Dental Therapists, being considered as well?
Dare we really discuss means to lower costs of dental care, for people who cannot afford our traditional delivery model, without setting off a circus of opposition?