A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists: In the Context of the Movement to Add Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States (Executive Summary)

This executive summary documents evidence that dental therapists can effectively expand access to dental care, especially for children, and is technically competent, safe and effective

A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists: In the Context of the Movement to Add Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States

An extensive review of the literature documenting care provided by dental therapists and clinical outcomes worldwide indicates that they offer safe, effective dental care to children

The perceptions of first nation participants in a community oral health initiative

The Children’s Oral Health Initiative (COHI) is a federally funded community-based preventive dental program for children and their caregivers living in geographically isolated Canadian Aboriginal communities. The goal of the program is to improve access to preventive dental services for children of 0–7 years of age. It utilises community health workers in collaboration with dental therapists to promote and deliver the program. Almost half of the province of Manitoba’s (n=27) First Nations communities have implemented COHI since 2005. The objective of this investigation was to explore the opinions of COHI from the perspective of community members whose children had participated in the program. Purposeful selection identified caregivers of enrolled children for a semi-structured interview. The targeted caregivers had children who met at least one of the following criteria: (1) 0–2 years old; (2) 5–7 years old; (3) had two or more children either currently or formerly enrolled in COHI. Six open-ended questions guided the interview process. Content analysis was used to code transcripts and identify themes. One hundred and forty-one interviews were completed in 13 communities. Participants defined good oral health as the absence of dental cavities, which reflects a Western biomedical model of disease. The local, community-based nature of COHI was viewed as essential to its success in increasing access to preventive dental services and improving children and caregivers’ oral health knowledge and behaviours. In conclusion, a local, community-based oral health prevention programme is perceived as having a beneficial effect on children and caregivers’ oral health knowledge and behaviours. However, oral health preventive messages need to be further integrated into traditional Aboriginal holistic models of wellness

Oral Health Care for Children in Countries Using Dental Therapists in Public, School-Based Programs, Contrasted with that of the United States, Using Dentists in a Private Practice Model

The United States faces a significant problem with access to oral health care, particularly for children. More than 50 countries have developed an alternative dental provider, a dental therapist, practicing in public, school-based programs, to address children\u27s access to care. This delivery model has been demonstrated to improve access to care and oral health outcomes while providing quality care economically. We summarize elements of a recent major review of the global literature on the use of dental therapists, A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists: In the Context of the Movement to Add Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States. We contrast the success of a school-based model of caring for children by dental therapists with that of the US model of dentists providing care for children in private practices