New Law Expands Access to Care
Minnesota has implemented a new law, HF1712, that provides residents with greater access to oral health care by allowing dental hygienists and some dental assistants to perform services outside the clinic in community settings without the patient first being examined by a dentist.
Minnesota has implemented a new law, HF1712, that provides residents with greater access to oral health care by allowing dental hygienists and some dental assistants to perform services outside the clinic in community settings without the patient first being examined by a dentist. Effective August 1, dental hygienists and dental assistants are able to serve patients in settings—such as schools, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities—as long as they have a collaborative agreement with a dentist. Completion of emergency and medical training is also required. Dental hygienists will be able to provide topical preventive agents, take vital signs, polish crowns, and capture radiographs without a dentist present.
“The changes enacted strengthen this workforce opportunity and clarify areas that had caused barriers to full implementation of dental hygienists working with underserved populations in community settings,” Colleen Brickle, EdD, RDH, dean of health sciences at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, tells Dimensions. Brickle adds further work needs to be done to improve access to care for underserved communities in the form of “collective impact.” She explains, “Our next step will be for supporters of the legislation to address the power of collective impact, a definition coined as ‘diverse organizations coming together to solve a complex social problem.’”
From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. September 2017;15(9):10.
