Legislative ‘Best Smile’ Winners Announced; FDHA Smile Day Info Recap

 The Florida Dental Hygiene Association

Congratulates the 2009 FDHA SMILE DAY “Best Smile” Contest Winners!

 

State Representative Kelli Stargel and Senator Stephen Wise

 

“Smile Day” is the annual lobbying effort to raise awareness of the Florida Dental Hygiene Association with Florida’s Legislature and public policymakers.

The information below explains the need for dental hygienists to provide necessary dental preventative care in public health settings without the supervision of a dentist. 

A downloadable copy of this material is attached for your convenience.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Trevor Mask, Esq.
at Colodny Fass.

 

Public Health Supervision for REGISTERED Dental Hygienists (RDH)

 

WHAT IS PUBLIC HEALTH SUPERVISION?

• Provides direct access to preventive oral health services by dental hygienists in health access settings
  • Eliminates dental supervision (prior authorization or presence of a dentist)
• Uses an existing, educated and licensed dental hygiene workforce to provide direct access to preventive oral health services to school children and vulnerable elderly
  • Requires referral to a dentist for all treatment beyond the dental hygienists’ scope of practice
• Changes supervision NOT scope of practice
  • Dental hygienists currently provide preventive oral health services in private dental practices and state public health clinics without the required physical presence of a dentist.

 

Is there a need in Florida?  YES

• Approximately 1.8 million Medicaid eligible children in Florida
• Only 10% of dentists are Medicaid Providers
• An estimated 51 million school hours per year are lost because of dental-related illness.
• Children from families with low incomes had nearly 12 times as many restricted-activity days (e.g., days of missed school) because of dental problems as did children from families with higher incomes
• Because of the connection between oral health and total health, prevention will create down line cost savings in both medical and dental care

 

Is it safe?  YES

• Dental Hygienists are educated, licensed, yet underutilized in Florida 
• Graduates of Accredited Dental Hygiene Programs or Graduates of Unaccredited Foreign Dental Schools
• Successfully pass National Board written examination
• Successfully pass state clinical and written jurisprudence examinations
• According to the professional liability coverage available through the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA), neither the degree of supervision nor the services provided affects the costs of the insurance for the dental hygienist
• 29 states, allow direct access to dental hygiene services in a variety of health access settings (AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, ID, IA, KS, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NM, NY, NV, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, WA, WV, WI)
  • No known record of harm to the public in any of the states which allow dental hygienists to perform preventive services in settings outside the private dental practice

 

How Can You Help?  

• Remove statutory restrictions that underutilize the RDH workforce in order to provide greater access to Florida’s underserved populations

• SUPPORT the PILOT PROGRAM which increases access to preventive oral health services for school children and vulnerable elderly                               
  • Enables the investigation of policy reform as recommended by the Health Practitioner Oral Healthcare Workforce Ad Hoc Committee Report

(http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/dental/OralHealhcareWorkforce/200903Dental_Workforce_Report.pdf)

• The pilot program will increase access in conjunction with the Children’s Volunteer Health Network in Okaloosa and Walton Counties