Oral Health: Florida Lawmakers Push Three-Year Dental Certification to Ease Dentist Shortage

The lack of access to dental care in Florida is reflected in alarming statistics. 

A 2023 report by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health found that children in Florida aged 14 and younger seek dental care through emergency departments for non-traumatic dental conditions (NTDC) at one of the highest rates in the country. The report also found that Florida hospitals were billed nearly $550 million for treating NTDC in 2021 alone.

Florida lawmakers recently introduced a bill as a solution to this problem: a three-year dental therapist certification, contrasted with the usual eight years required to become a dentist. It would authorize dental therapists to provide services for patients, like routine dental work, under the supervision of a licensed dentist. 

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