Current Events
DH's prescribing & diagnosing!
Here are the latest rule changes concerning Dental Hygiene from the Oregon Board of Dentistry(OBD)!
RDHRuleChanges20105.pdf
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer
(11-20) 22:41 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
For Wynita Lee, an Inupiaq Eskimo in the small village of Shungnak, Alaska, a trip to the dentist for her family meant a 150-mile trip by airplane, at a cost of more than $200.
Then Stephanie Woods came to town.
The 35-year-old Texan, who married a man from Shungnak and decided to settle in the village of about 300 in northwestern Alaska, now oversees dental care for Alaska Natives there, with an emphasis on small children.
Woods is not a state-licensed dentist. She is a dental health aide therapist trained in New Zealand, where therapists have worked in remote areas for decades...the rest of the story
Check out the late breaking and Therapists and Other Innovative Programs, in response to the unmet oral health needs in Alaska and other underserved areas. There is also information on the 2006 program, call for abstracts and membership.
An important message from the Oral Health Section- January 2006
In an early victory for the creation of an advanced dental hygiene practitioner (ADHP), last week the United States Senate passed H.R. 3010, the fiscal year 2006 spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), by a 94-3 vote. The report accompanying the bill, S. Rpt. 109-103 includes a provision encouraging the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to "explore development of an advanced dental hygiene practitioner who would be a graduate of an accredited dental hygiene program and complete an advanced educational curriculum, which prepares the dental hygienist to provide diagnostic, preventive, restorative and therapeutic services directly to the public in rural and underserved areas."
It's important to note that report language does not carry the weight of law nor does it allocate any funding for the ADHP. However, the report language is important encouragement to the HRSA to take steps in furtherance of the ADHP.
"This is a small but critical victory on the road to accomplishing ...continue here
The House Health and Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB
2426, as amended, to the floor of the House today. The amendments
restore the list of permitted locations that LAPs can practice, but make
several important additions to the list: siblings of kids in school
programs; public and community health centers; home bound adults;
persons eligible for the WIC program and, most importantly, the bill
allows the Board of Dentistry to add other locations and populations who
are in need of oral health care services. The prohibition on the BOD
expanding the scope of practice of LAP hygienists will still be
repealed, allowing the Board to address new functions by rule in the
future. The bill explicitly allows LAP hygienists to apply sealants as
well as prescribe fluoride. The sealants issue is a major improvement
from what we drafted initially, and it avoids us having to argue this
issue in a rulemaking process at the BOD. The bill also will now have
an emergency clause, meaning that it is effective immediately upon the
Governor's signature (later this summer), rather than on January 1,
2006, the normal legislative effective date. Please let me know if you
have any questions.
-Paul S. Cosgrove, Lobbyist 503-226-7677
Go to www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr
PO Box 3710
Wilsonville, OR 97070-3710
www.oregondental.org
CDHA to support new legislation in 2005
Exciting news from the California Dental Hygienists' Association!
After more than a decade of discussion, the CDHA will be supporting the introduction of legislation to create a fully independent California Dental Hygiene Board.
www.cdha.org/news/legislative_updates/2004-03.htm
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