Kirk Johnson's article "Where Dentists Are Scarce, American Indians Forge a Path to Better Care" was published by the New York Times on May 22, 2016. For years, dental care on rural, Indian reservations has been poor in both quantity and quality, causing many to search for other options. People like Daniel P. Kennedy, a Native Alaskan, have become dental therapists, who after two years of training are proficient in common but important procedures like cavity filling. However, the American Dental Association disapproves of dental therapists because they are not technically dentists. But according to Dr. Rachael R. Hogan, who has worked with a dental therapist for many years, they are very skilled at certain procedures and therefore might be a better source of care than most dentists. As more momentum has built supporting the training of dental therapists, there has been more push back.
This relates back to the mistreatment of Native American through out United States history. Starting from wars between the colonists and the natives such as King Phillips War, through the Trail of Tears, and to today, American Indians have always been treated as lesser. I think that the American Dental Association needs to legalize dental therapists in most states because they will allow both American Indians in addition other underprivileged citizen groups access to good dental care, which is an important part of leading a good and pain-free life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/23/us/where-dentists-are-scarce-american-indians-forge-a-path-to-better-care.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront
Dental therapists seem like a great idea for helping people without access to dentists.
ReplyDelete