ADEA presents testimony on dental health care workforce issues

    Feb. 20, 2008
    American Dental Education Association speaks before Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

    WASHINGTON, D.C.--ADEA President James Q. Swift, DDS, delivered testimony on Capitol Hill recently about dental health-care workforce issues on behalf of the association.

    Dr. Swift's testimony urged the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to prioritize resources and funding to increase the diversity of the dental workforce, improve access to oral health care, and address the projected shortages of oral health care providers.

    "Profound disparities in the oral health of the nation's population have resulted in a 'silent epidemic,'" said Dr. Swift. "These disparities, in combination with the current shortage of dental school faculty, the scarcity of underrepresented minority dentists, and the need to draw dentists to practice in rural and underserved communities, make this committee's examination timely and necessary."

    The hearing concerned the reauthorization of Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, which funds programs for primary care medicine and dentistry training and increasing health professions student diversity. Dr. Swift presented 18 recommendations to the committee that would address dental workforce challenges and improve access to oral health care.

    They included the establishment of a federal guarantee for dental coverage in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, reauthorization and adequate funding of the Dental Health Improvement Act that was created to help states develop dental workforce programs, passage of Deamonte's Law H.R. 2371, which would authorize funding to assist academic dental institutions and community health centers in addressing access to care issues, and the establishment of a Dental Disproportionate Share Program that would give a Medicaid allotment to each state and territory for distribution to dental clinics operated by or affiliated with an academic dental institution.

    The hearing was held the same day the Government Accountability Office released a report that addressed projected shortages, maldistribution, and lack of diversity in the health care professions. ADEA research has found the proportion of underrepresented minority dentists remains significantly lower than the proportion of URM in the U.S. population.

    Currently, about 7 percent of professionally active dentists are URM while nearly 28 percent of the U.S. population is URM.

    For more about the ADEA, go to American Dental Education Association.

    To access Dr. Swift's full testimony, visit Full testimony.