Current Status of Adding Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States

Abstract

Dental therapists are members of the oral health care workforce in over 50 countries of the world. Until recently, they have not participated as members of the professional dental team in the USA. It was not until the publication of Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General in 2000, describing the significant problem of access to dental care, that the issue of dental therapists emerged in the USA in a significant manner. Details of the development of dental therapists in the workforce in the USA through 2011 were previously chronicled by Mathu-Muju. Since then, there has been a major increase in interest and licensing of dental therapists in a number of states. This article updates the dental therapist movement to the present time. The literature and activities of the movement will be reviewed by the categories of research, education, and legislation/practice, as well as analytical essays and commentaries.