MADISON – A new kind of dental profession was created in Wisconsin on Wednesday after years of gridlock in the state Capitol over whether to allow the licensure of dental therapists, a healthcare worker who has the training to fill basic cavities, place temporary crowns and provide preventative care.
Gov. Tony Evers signed a package of bills on Wednesday aimed at bolstering the dental healthcare workforce and increasing access to care. One proposal creates a new license for dental therapists.
Evers proposed creating the new license in three state budget proposals but the measures were removed by Republicans on the Legislature’s budget-writing committee and not included in the final spending plans.
The Wisconsin Dental Association had been opposed to the idea for years but did not register in opposition to the latest proposal. Until now, legislative proposals to allow the profession in Wisconsin have failed.
The association withdrew its opposition after lawmakers agreed to include rules such as requiring dental therapists to graduate from accredited training programs and work under a dentist’s supervision.
Proponents of allowing them to practice in Wisconsin contend dental therapists, whose salaries are roughly half those of dentists, are a more cost-effective way to provide care to low-income patients while freeing dentists to focus on more complex procedures.
They are more likely to practice in community health centers and nonprofit dental clinics in low-income urban neighborhoods and in rural areas.
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The profession lands somewhere between dental hygienists and dentists and often also are licensed dental hygienists.
The Wisconsin Dental Association in 2019 opposed the idea pointing to outcomes in Minnesota, contending dental therapists did not improve access to dental care.
At the time, dental therapists accounted for less than 1% of Minnesota’s dental workforce of 4,156 dentists and 5,713 dental hygienists. The Minnesota Department of Health has not released updated data on the workforce since 2019.
But some communities benefitted. Dental therapists provided care in an estimated 94,392 patient visits in Minnesota in 2016, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
Evers also signed bills that would send $350,000 to Marquette University annually to pay for the recruitment and training of dentistry students in rural areas. Another bill would allow technical colleges to apply for funds controlled by the Legislature to pay for dental training programs.
Guy Boulton, formerly of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, contributed to this report.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
