The Future Looks Bright
The future looks bright, due to the efforts of clinicians, educators, policy makers, public health advocates, and even journalists. We hope you think so, too.
The status of oral health care delivery in the United States has been in the spotlight in recent years. With a growing number of states passing legislation allowing for new workforce models, change has come swiftly and appears to be ongoing.
And more change seems to be on the horizon with many states considering legislation to either expand the reach of dental hygienists or add a midlevel practitioner to their cadre of oral health professionals. One thing is clear, the oral health care delivery system is in a period of great change as the nation attempts to reach its most vulnerable populations.
The 2017 issue of Perspectives on the Midlevel Practitioner presents a snapshot of this transformation. We take a close look at the access-to-care issue, status of legislation to expand scope of practice and/or create new providers, the role of education in the development of midlevel practitioners, and continuing efforts to advance the dental hygiene profession, as well as the strategies employed by different states to help their residents receive much-needed oral health care services.
The future looks bright, due to the efforts of clinicians, educators, policy makers, public health advocates, and even journalists. We hope you think so, too.
From Perspectives on the Midlevel Practitioner, a supplement to Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. October 2017;4(10):8.
