In November 2010, the Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition announced that it had formed to help expand access to badly needed dental care for Vermonters across the state. Voices for Vermont’s Children and the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security are leading the effort to build a consumer voice and raise public awareness of the need for better access to affordable oral health care. To date 40 organizations have joined in building a coalition that is dedicated to getting Vermonters the oral health care they deserve.

The Coalition is part of a larger movement nationwide to expand access to dental care. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is supporting efforts in five states – Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio,Vermont and Washington – to pursue an innovative dental provider model that can expand access to dental care by adding an additional provider to the team.  Community Catalyst, a national health advocacy organization, is helping to lead the effort.

The Coalition has come together in recognition that more can be done in this state to improve the overall health of Vermonters.  We are dedicated to working towards a comprehensive solution that recognizes the importance of oral health to overall health.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

American Federation of Teachers/United Professions

Community of Vermont Elders

Disability Rights VT

Green Mountain Self-Advocates

Hunger Free Vermont

King Street Center

Mercy Connections

National Association of Social Workers, VT Chapter

People’s Health & Wellness Clinic

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England

Valley Health Connections

VT Assembly of Home Health Agencies

VT Association of Adult Day Services

VT Association of Area Agencies on Aging

VT Campaign for Health Care Security Education Fund

VT Center for Independent Living

VT Citizens Campaign for Health

VT Coalition for Disability Rights

VT Coalition of Clinics for the Uninsured:

–Bennington Free Clinic  (Bennington, VT)

–The Health Assistance Program at Fletcher Allen Health Care  (Burlington, VT)

–Good Neighbor Health Clinic / Red Logan Dental Clinic  (White River Junction, VT)

–Health Connections at Gifford Medical Center  (Randolph, VT)

–The Open Door Clinic  (Middlebury, VT and Vergennes, VT)

–People’s Health and Wellness Clinic  (Barre, VT)

–Putney Walk-In Clinic  (Putney, VT)

–Rutland Free Clinic – Medical and Dental Clinics  (Rutland, VT)

–Valley Health Connections  (Springfield, VT)

–Windsor Community Clinic  (Windsor, VT)

VT Coalition of Residential Providers

VT Coalition of Runaway & Homeless Youth

VT Community Action Agencies Network:

–BROC- COMMUNITY Action in Southwestern Vermont

–Capstone Community Action

–Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO)

–Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA)

–Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA)

VT Dental Hygienists’ Association

VT Developmental Disabilities Council

VT Early Childhood Alliance

VT Family Network

VT Office of the Health Care Advocate

VT Kin As Parents

VT Long-Term Care Ombudsman

VT Low Income Advocacy Council

VT Migrant Workers Coalition

VT National Education Association (NEA)

VT Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence

VT Nurse Practitioners Association

VT Parent Child Center Network

VT Public Interest Research Group

VT State Nurses’ Association

VT Workers’ Center

Voices for Vermont’s Children

Dental Therapy in Community Clinics

Dental therapists are ideally suited to working in public health settings and community clinics. Because dental therapists are relatively inexpensive to employ, they enable community health centers to offer dental care to low-income families and see more underserved patients. A 2013 Community Catalyst report found that 78 percent of patients seen by dental therapists in Minnesota were publicly insured.

Here, Dr. Shiraz Asif, DDS, clinic dental officer at a community health clinic in Minneapolis, MN, describes integrating a dental therapist into his team of dental professionals.

Christy Jo Fogarty, a dental therapist at a non-profit clinic in Minnesota, describes working with patients and how she interacts with her supervising dentist.

A real-world analysis of the economic benefits of adding dental therapists to a community dental provider team (PDF). Study of Quality and Efficiency Outcomes_Wovcha_June 2015

Dental Therapy in Private Practice

Dental therapists have been added to dental teams in private practices throughout Minnesota, allowing practice owners to serve more publicly-insured patients in a cost-effective way, while growing their practices and creating jobs.

A Dentist’s Perspective

Dr. John T. Powers, DDS, a private-practice dentist in Montevideo, MN, describes working with a dental therapist to expand access to care in his rural Minnesota town.

Rather read how this works? Check out this article: Improve Care, Increase Revenue: The Case for Midlevel Providers by Leon A. Assail, DMD, and John Powers, DDS