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Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signs into law a bill that makes his the fourth state in the nation to allow dental therapists to provide dental care. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium began dental health therapy in 2004. (Photo from Vermont Public Interest Research Group or VPIRG.)
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called states “the laboratories of democracy.” The idea was that experiments in governing would take place far from Washington and eventually become national policy. Well, it that’s true, then tribes, and intertribal organizations, might be democracy’s first test labs.
This is Trahant Reports.
If you are looking for innovation, efficiency, and ideas that should be borrowed by state governments, then explore some of the successes found in the Indian health system. Last week Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill that licenses dental therapy in Vermont. Therapists are midlevel providers who provide dental procedures such as fillings and simple extractions. Great idea. One that began more than a decade ago when the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium trained midlevel oral health providers because too few dentists were practicing in remote Alaska Native villages. Almost immediately this was an “aha!” moment as other communities saw this as a smart way to expand dental access. Dental therapy students were hired and trained right out of high school and then were put right to work. But the innovation was followed by a fight. The American Dental Association sued trying to stop this program, saying that the midlevel providers were practicing dentistry without a license. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium fought back and won, using the Indian Self-Determination Act and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to trump the state’s licensing regulations. The data today is clear. The program has been spectacularly successful providing routine dental care to some 40,000 patients every year. Across the country, both in Indian Country, and now in states, the idea of a midlevel dental practice is expanding. Last summer at the National Congress of American Indians, Brian Cladosby, Chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and president of NCAI, said the tribe would expand dental health therapy using its own sovereign regulatory structure. In recent months tribes in Oregon began their own pilot program to train dental therapists. This innovation is the future. It expands dental care as well as opportunity for young people who want a career in dental health. It’s important to tell the story and its roots with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. I have some news about Trahant Reports today. Nearly two years ago we began this commentary on Native Voice One. We’re now beginning an expansion and as part of that we have a new underwriter. I’m pleased to say Trahant Reports will be brought to you by Kauffman & Associates, Inc., a Native American owned, woman-owned small business that has delivered innovative solutions for government and commercial clients since 1990. KAI's expertise spans diverse specialty areas, including public health, education, and economic development.
Thank you.
I am Mark Trahant
