Jay W. Friedman

Saskatchewan's school‐based dental program staffed by dental therapists: a retrospective case study

OBJECTIVES The poor oral health of Saskatchewans children, in concert with a significant shortage of dentists, prompted the province in the early 1970s to seek an alternative method of addressing the oral health care needs of children. The result was the Saskatchewan Health Dental Plan (SHDP), which trained and employed dental therapists in school-based clinics to provide basic dental care to all children. The program was initiated over the opposition of Saskatchewans dentists. The purpose of this research was to provide information and data previously not documented in the refereed dental literature regarding the only school-based program staffed by dental therapists to ever exist in North America. METHODS This case study reviews the programs planning, opposition, implementation, and achievements based on a comprehensive review of published articles as well as a search of the grey literature. Additionally, Saskatchewan Health provided annual reports for each year of the programs existence. RESULTS During its thirteen years of existence, the school-based program proved popular with parents and achieved significant success in providing necessary dental care for children. It was terminated in 1987 by the newly elected provincial Conservative government, which was not supportive of such social programs. CONCLUSIONS The SHDP serves as a successful model of school-based dental care for children. However, the termination of the plan demonstrates the vulnerability of publicly funded dental health programs to conflicting political ideologies and special interest groups.

The dental therapist movement in the United States: A critique of current trends

Dental therapists are members of the oral health workforce in over 50 countries in the world typically caring for children in publically funded school-based programs. A movement has developed in the United States to introduce dental therapists to the oral health workforce in an attempt to improve access to care and to reduce disparities in oral health. This article critiques trends in the United States movement in the context of the history and success of dental therapists practicing internationally. While supporting the dental therapist movement, we challenge: a) the use of dental therapists treating adults, versus focusing on children; b) the use of dental therapists in the private versus the public/not-for-profit sector; and c) requirements that a dental therapist must also be credentialed as a dental hygienist.