Why it’s needed
Here are some facts about the dental access and workforce shortage problems in Kansas:
• Dental Care is the most frequent un-met health need of children.
• 55 percent of Kansas third graders have experienced dental decay; 25 percent of third grade children have untreated decay.
• 91 Kansas counties do not have enough dentists to serve their population.
• Only 1 in 4 dentists accept Medicaid; Only 10 percent of dentists see more than 100 Medicaid patients a year.
• The average age of a dentist in Kansas is 50, with older dentists practicing in more rural areas of the state.
Source: The Kansas Dental Project
A proposed law that would have allowed Kansas to have Registered Dental Practitioners — much like Nurse Practitioners but serving under the supervision of licensed dentists -- languished is committee this year as the Legislature wrangled over redistricting, said Suzanne Wikle, with the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children.
Supporters of the legislation known at the Kansas Dental Project said it would address the fact that 93 Kansas counties don’t have enough dentists. During the 2011 Legislative Session, identical bills were introduced in the House and Senate. Each bill received a committee hearing, but they remained in committee for further discussion during the 2012 Legislative session. Because that didn’t happen, new bills will be introduced in 2013, Wikle told a Great Bend audience during a recent Noon Kiwanis meeting.
Her Great Bend visit was arranged by Dr. David Hart, who supports allowing Registered Dental Practitioners even though the Kansas Dental Association has failed to get behind the initiative. “I think we could benefit here in Great Bend,” Hart said, adding he is the only dentist in town who sees young patients insured through the state’s Medicaid program HealthWave.
Wikle said Kansas Action for Children, Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved and the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition supported the effort to increase access to dental care for their constituents. Barton County and all counties adjoining it are among the majority that don’t have enough dentists. Some area communities, including Ness, Lane and Hodgeman counties, have no dentist at all.
“Dental decay is the number one childhood illness,” Wikle said, adding it is five times more common than asthma.
Other states and countries with a shortage of dentists, including Alaska, have met the shortage by allowing mid-level providers — health professionals with more training than registered hygienists but who are not full-fledged dentists. By working under the supervision of a dentist, RDPs could alleviate the state’s dental shortage in much the same way that Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners have helped address the medical workforce shortage in rural areas, Wikle said. “This is really an investment that is building across the county."
