Missouri Academy of
General Dentistry

On May 27th the Missouri Dental Board sent a request to Governor Jay Nixon for legislation creating two new Mid-level Dental Providers to be called, Dental Therapists and Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioners making them the first dental board in the country to endorse the concept. Despite the objection of the MoAGD, the MDA and others the dental board recommended these new providers be allowed to perform diagnosis, and irreversible procedures including the nonsurgical extraction of all primary and permanent teeth with at least 6mm of attachment loss, direct restorations on primary and permanent teeth and pulpotomies on primary teeth.

Missouri AGD says NO!

The membership has spoken. As compassionate healthcare providers our membership is sensitive to the needs of the under-served but an overwhelming majority of MOAGD members feel the creation of mid-level providers is a shortsighted approach and just plain wrong. By unanimous vote your Board of Directors has adopted the following position paper:

Missouri AGD Position On Mid-Level Providers

The Missouri AGD and its members have always proudly stood for increasing the competency of dentists in this state. We also feel the best way we can advocate for the oral health of Missourians is by raising the bar of competency and we are deeply saddened by any attempt to lower it, for any reason.
It is obvious the people proposing this legislation are also very passionate about helping the citizens of Missouri. However, we feel the use of mid-level providers, what ever the title, who are inadequately trained to perform or handle complications in the performance of the proposed irreversible procedures, will not help the oral health of Missourians, but possibly harm it!
The MO AGD feels any true access to care should be socially equitable and economically feasible. The MO AGD cannot support the creation of a two-tiered system of care.
Instead, the MO AGD supports:

• The expansion of Medicaid to all of Missouri’s indigent citizens, and increasing it to 70% of UCR so all of Missouri’s dentists could participate.
• The use of recently graduated, licensed dentists who are paid with a cost of living stipend and education loan forgiveness to help in these underserved areas.
• The use of a mobile dental van to reach underserved areas.
• The creation of more general practice and pedodontic residencies as a means of helping these areas.
• The proper use of Expanded Function Dental Assistants (EFDAs) under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist.

We feel the DDS, DMD degrees represent the minimum competency to diagnose and perform: operative dentistry, tooth extraction, pedodontic pulpal procedures and any other irreversible procedure performed in dentistry.