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Adding Dental Therapists To The Health Care Team To Improve Access To Oral Health Care For Children, David A. Nash

Oral Health Science Faculty Publications

Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, and the subsequent National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health, contributed significantly to raising awareness regarding the lack of access to oral health care by many Americans, especially minority and low-income populations, with resulting disparities in oral health. The problem is particularly acute among children. The current dental workforce in the United States is inadequate to meet the oral health care needs of children. It is inadequate in terms of numbers of dentists, as well as their geographic distribution, ethnicity, education, and practice orientation. Dental therapists, paraprofessionals …