In an effort to keep members informed about the Colorado legislative session, the CDA wanted you to be aware of the likelihood of a dental therapy bill being introduced during this session. The draft of this bill, which is being proposed by a health advocacy group in Colorado, is still in progress and we do not have an exact date of when the bill we be introduced.
As of this date, a dental therapy bill has NOT been introduced to the Colorado legislature. Therefore, there is NOT a formal bill to support or oppose.
The CDA is aware of this draft and has been providing information and expertise to legislators about accredited dental education, scope of practice and necessary supervision for dental procedures. The CDA is not drafting this bill, but we are committed to the responsibility of making sure that our legislators are aware of the importance of proper training, required skillset to perform irreversible surgery and the necessary precautions needed to protect public safety.
As the legislative session progresses and this bill is introduced we will let you know. Once introduced, the CDA will provide an analysis to you and host a member town hall to answer questions and gather feedback.
Background:
The topic of dental therapy was brought up prior to the 2020 legislative session. At that time, the CDA made a commitment to Sen. Dominick Moreno to bring on an external independent consulting group to convene Colorado stakeholders, gather information, and determine where Colorado had specific oral health needs or gaps in care. In addition to assessing need in Colorado, the group was asked to evaluate current dental care programs, scope of practice allowances, oral health innovations and provider types. The CDA applied for and received grant funding from the American Dental Association to hire a consulting group to create this report. The group was also asked to impartially evaluate the need for a mid-level provider type in Colorado. The CDA hired the Wynne Health Group, a highly respected national health policy firm dedicated to expanding access-to-care and improving health. This report was provided to Sen. Moreno and the Colorado legislators in January of this year, however, before we finished this process an external policy group initiated the drafting of a mid-level provider bill.
Read the Wynne Health Group report here: cdaonline.org/midlevel.
To simplify the information in the lengthy report, the CDA has also created this infographic to better highlight the key findings of the report and to define where dental therapy currently exists in the U.S.
If you have questions, please contact Greg Hill at 303-996-2846 or greg@cdaonline.org.
Article updated on March 27, 2022.