The ADEA Presents Testimony On Dental Health Care Workforce Issues Before U.S. Senate Committee On Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 21 Feb 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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ADEA President James Q. Swift, D.D.S., delivered testimony on Capitol Hill last week on 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 (SCHIP); reauthorization and adequate funding of the Dental Health Improvement Act (DHIA), 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 (DDS) 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 (ADI).

The hearing was held the same day the Government Accountability Office (GAO) 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 (URM) dentists remains significantly lower than the proportion of URM in the U.S. population. Currently, about 7% of professionally active dentists are URM, while nearly 28% of the U.S. population is URM.

ADEA has partnered with several organizations to address diversity issues within dentistry. They include the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF); the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP), a collaborative program with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and also funded by RWJF; and the Moving Forward: Bridging the Gap program, funded by The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation to implement a seven-year curriculum to increase the number of URM students in the dental workforce.

To access the full testimony, visit here.

About the American Dental Education Association

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is the voice of dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many allied and postdoctoral dental education programs, corporations, faculty, and students. The mission of ADEA is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research, and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public. ADEA's activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings, and communications like the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school admissions services AADSAS and PASS.

American Dental Education Association