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Current Status of Adding Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States

Current Oral Health Reports volume 3, pages 147–154 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Dental therapists are members of the oral health care workforce in over 50 countries of the world. Until recently, they have not participated as members of the professional dental team in the USA. It was not until the publication of Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General in 2000, describing the significant problem of access to dental care, that the issue of dental therapists emerged in the USA in a significant manner. Details of the development of dental therapists in the workforce in the USA through 2011 were previously chronicled by Mathu-Muju. Since then, there has been a major increase in interest and licensing of dental therapists in a number of states. This article updates the dental therapist movement to the present time. The literature and activities of the movement will be reviewed by the categories of research, education, and legislation/practice, as well as analytical essays and commentaries.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Kavita R. Mathu-Muju

  2. American Public Health Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jay W. Friedman

  3. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    David A. Nash

Authors
  1. Kavita R. Mathu-Muju
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  2. Jay W. Friedman
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  3. David A. Nash
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kavita R. Mathu-Muju.

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Conflict of Interest

Kavita R. Mathu-Muju, Jay W. Friedman, and David A. Nash declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Dental Public Health

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Mathu-Muju, K.R., Friedman, J.W. & Nash, D.A. Current Status of Adding Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States. Curr Oral Health Rep 3, 147–154 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40496-016-0091-1

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Keywords

  • Dental therapists
  • Advocacy
  • Access to care
  • Education
  • Legislation