Legislation to Create Dental Therapists in Florida Fails to Get Support

Feb 9, 2024
This session proved to be a year where false comparisons and distortion of information took center stage as individuals and national organizations lobbied the Legislature to change Florida’s dental workforce.
Individuals from within the dental profession, along with the Florida Dental Hygienists’ Association (FDHA), worked with lobbyists from the Pew Charitable Trusts and representatives from the James Madison Institute, advocating for the creation of dental therapists in Florida. The FDA opposed this legislation because Florida has a sufficient dental workforce to address the dental care needs of this state. However, many dentists are challenged with a large amount of debt, which makes it difficult to set up a practice in a rural area and maintain a sustaining practice, especially with low Medicaid reimbursement rates. Furthermore, the FDA is concerned that this would lower the standard of care for dentistry — particularly among our state’s most vulnerable populations, who often suffer from the most complex problems and higher rates of tooth decay. The FDA is advocating for the return of the dental student loan repayment program to remedy this problem, which would provide qualified dentists with a salaried paying job in a community health center or a county health department, while the state pays at least $50,000 on their student loan for up to five years.

Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) filed SB 1498 and Rep. Danny Perez (R-Miami) filed CS/HB 683 to authorize a new licensed dental provider called a dental therapist, in which a high school graduate with three years of dental therapy training would be allowed to perform irreversible surgical procedures, such as extractions and partial root canals under the general supervision of a dentist — which doesn’t require the dentist to check the work or be in the building when the procedures are performed. The Senate Health Policy Committee did not consider SB 1498; however, the House bill did receive two committee hearings. CS/HB 683 was amended to conduct a study of dental therapists. The FDA also opposed a study of dental therapists because it’s unnecessary and the projected funding to conduct a study (ranging from $250,000 to $500,000) would be better used toward providing direct care to those in need. 

It is evident that these individuals and organizations are going to continue to travel all over the United States to try to convince legislators that dental therapists are the solution to addressing access to dental care. Our job is to show them that the FDA has always pursued ways to help increase access to dental care in Florida, but in such a way that maintains the high standard of education and training dentists achieve to provide comprehensive dental care to all patients.

Capital Report, Vol. 25, No. 9 - March 22, 2018