Between 2010 and 2016, the proportion of women working in dentistry increased from 24.5% to 29.8%. Overall, female dentists were more racially/ethnically diverse, more likely to be foreign-trained, and more likely to work in pediatric dentistry than male dentists. Gender diversification in dentistry and other factors, including generational differences and changes in public policy, continue…
Due to the dangers of the opioid crisis, it is more important than ever that health providers are adequately educated about best practices for pain management, such as appropriate prescribing habits and screening for substance use disorders. While previous studies have addressed the educational curriculum about pain management in medical schools, the literature on similar…
Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) is a topical medicament that can be used to treat dental caries across the age spectrum. Research supports the use of SDF in pediatric dentistry and in the elderly population as a simple, inexpensive, and effective way of preventing dental caries initiation and progression. State dental boards and regulators have recognized…
Many children in rural areas receive teledentistry consultation before receiving treatment and follow-up care at a specialty dentistry clinic. However, little is known about what factors impact how often these children utilize follow-up oral health services. This article describes a study that examined 144 children living in rural New York who underwent a teledentistry consultation…
Populations residing in rural America have lower rates of dental care utilization, higher rates of dental caries, less water fluoridation, and fewer dentists per capita when compared to those living in urban environments. Dental workforce shortages in rural communities are endemic, despite the research on best practices for enhancing the rural workforce. This report examines…
Care coordination is a strategy used to improve health outcomes and efficiency, but has not been widely adopted in the dental field. To test out care coordination in the field, a large dental accountable care organization participated in a pilot project where they retrained existing administrative staff to coordinate the care of high-risk patients. Following…
One of the major challenges the oral health workforce faces is those that affect patient access and outcomes. Although Medicare programs provide almost 15 million a year in GME payments to teaching hospitals, there is little information about how the US invests in training the podiatry workforce. This article evaluates Medicare GME payments to teaching…
Many physician assistant (PA) education programs provide training in oral health competencies. However, little is known about how this education translates to clinical practice. This article describes an online survey of a national sample of 2014 PA education program graduates to determine how many PAs are educated in oral health competencies and how this education…
Dentists are 1 of the top 5 opioid analgesic prescribers among health care professionals in the US. However, most of these prescriptions remain unused after dental surgery, with upwards of 100 million opioid analgesic pills estimated to be left unused. This report describes dentists’ opioid prescribing patterns for Medicaid beneficiaries in 2 very different states—Oregon…
Since the 1950’s, health organizations and policymakers have depended on dental public health (DPH) professionals to design and execute local and national oral health strategic plans, and implement community based programs to overcome barriers and disparities. In the US, DPH specialty programs are used to train DPH professionals to increase the available workforce and improve…
