This year's dental therapy bill may have stalled, but our work isn't stopping
Despite hundreds of hours of work by the Dental Therapy Task Force, strong support from advocates, and an unprecedented number of co-sponsors, House Bill 1885 – an effort to expand the practice of dental therapy in Washington – has stalled in its journey through the legislature.
Like many of us, Dr. Miranda Davis, DDS, MPH, was originally heartened that the legislature chose to examine expanding authorization of dental therapy statewide by creating the Dental Therapy Task Force. “I, along with 17 other professionals appointed to the task force spent many hours over several months delving into the evidence on dental therapy, exploring recommendations from experts, and creating a report for the legislature,” she said. “The evidence strongly supports dental therapy, and that was evident in the report. I'm disappointed, to say the least, that lawmakers now seem to be essentially ignoring this information.”
This inaction from legislators has real consequences for residents of low-income, rural communities and communities of color. As Marcy Bowers, executive director of Statewide Poverty Action Network states, “For every year that the state doesn't prioritize dental access, it means another year where people with low incomes are subjected to pain and increased risk of health problems.”
While we are frustrated that the bill did not make it further in the legislative process, we are proud of the work we’ve done over the past year to uplift community voices in favor of this model for health equity. Our coalition members, oral health advocates, and dental professionals worked hard to:
Send more than 500 emails to lawmakers.
Publish media coverage across the state.
Stage a virtual Open House joined by community members impacted by lack of access to dental care, health advocates, dentists, dental hygienists, educators, students, and Washington residents curious to learn more about dental therapy.
Deliver a report of the findings from the Dental Therapy Task Force after a range of stakeholders spent months reviewing research and having in-depth discussion.
This work has not been in vain. We will continue to educate lawmakers and build more support between now and next session. Our state’s dental access crisis and the disparities in oral health outcomes it creates are not going away unless our lawmakers enact significant change. Dr. Stephan Blanford, executive director of Children’s Alliance, points out, “Access to good oral health care has long term consequences for children, but for too many children of color and children from low-income families, lack of access becomes the source of a lifetime of disparities. The licensure of Dental Therapists in Washington state could easily address this disparity, yet we continue to allow self-serving special interests to block this game-changing solution.”
Lawmakers have all they need to combat the misinformation and fear tactics of the Washington State Dental Association and do the right thing for their constituents. We’ll continue our work until they do just that.