Dental therapists making a difference in Minnesota, a decade of data shows

Wisconsin has a dental access problem, particularly for children on Medicaid, rural residents, people with disabilities and lower-income populations. Twenty percent of the state’s residents — more than 1.2 million people — live in an area that has a shortage of dental health professionals. Only 40% of children on Medicaid received preventative dental services in 2019, and only one-third of Wisconsin dentists accept Medicaid patients at all.

Thankfully, there is a solution. Allowing for dental therapists — mid-level providers similar to physician assistants or nurse practitioners — would go a long way toward addressing Wisconsin’s dental provider shortage without burdening taxpayers.

Read the full fact sheet here.

Badger Institute Policy Analyst Julie Grace today testified before a State Senate committee in favor of SB 181, a bill that would allow dental therapy to be practiced in Wisconsin. 

"Wisconsin has a dental access problem, particularly for vulnerable populations like those with low-income, the disabled, rural populations and children on Medicaid. Twenty percent of the state’s residents – more than 1.2 million people – live in a dental health professional shortage area. Only 40% of children on Medicaid received preventative dental services in 2019, and only one-third of Wisconsin dentists accept Medicaid patients at all.

"Fifty-seven percent of kids on Medicaid in Wisconsin – more than 300,000 children and adolescents – did not receive any dental care in 2019."

Read the transcript of her full testimony here.