Report: Dental Therapy Can Fill Gaps in Care and Access

September 15, 2022

By Ken Wysocky

The Badger Institute has been paying attention to dental health for years now — researching, explaining and laying out options to lawmakers.

And with good reason: As veteran journalist Ken Wysocky points out here, synopsizing Badger Institute research, Wisconsin’s dental health is not good. Among states, we have among the worst access and use rates of dental care among disadvantaged populations. We have disproportionately poor dental outcomes for people in rural areas or among people with low incomes.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Other states are starting to implement the practice of dental therapy — healthcare professionals who work under the indirect supervision of dentists and who can provide routine dental care, alleviating the shortages of practitioners that are behind Wisconsin’s poor dental health.

One of those states is Minnesota. Wysocky explains what Badger Institute research has found about Minnesota’s experience and how it can apply here.

It’s a reform that finds bipartisan favor and that helps people without dinging the taxpayer. Find out how Wisconsin can score an easy win.

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