Workforce
 

 

Do all states license the same dental professionals?  

No. States independently define, describe, and license health professionals. Florida’s state practice act is the source of information about licensing in Florida.

Back to Top

Who in Florida is licensed to provide dental services?  

Florida licenses Dentists and Registered Dental Hygienists (RDHs) to provide dental services. In addition, physicians in Florida are permitted to provide a variety of dental services through an exemption from dental licensing requirements. .

  • Dentists: provide or are responsible for all patient cares services including those that can be performed by other provider. There are several different types of licenses for dentists:
    • Health Access License: Allows out-of-state dentists to practice in Florida safety-net settings, including programs and institutions of the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Juvenile Justice, nonprofit community health centers, Head Start centers, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), FQHC look-alikes as defined by federal law, and clinics operated by accredited colleges of dentistry.
    • Temporary Certificate: Issued to unlicensed dentists who have graduated from dental school to work under the supervision of licensed dentists.
    • Limited License: Allows retired dentists to provide services to the indigent or critical need populations within the state.
    • Teaching Permit: Allows full-time dental school instructors to practice dentistry at their accredited teaching facility.
    • Non-profit Corporation Permit: Allows non-profit dental corporations to employ out-of-state dentists.
  • Registered Dental Hygienists: In Florida, dental hygienists can provide correctable or “remediable tasks” under general, indirect or direct supervision as determined by the Board of Dentistry. Dental hygienists may, without supervision, provide educational programs, faculty or staff training programs, authorized fluoride rinse programs, apply fluorides and other services which do not involve diagnosis or treatment of dental conditions and are approved by rule of the board. In addition, a dental hygienist may without supervision perform dental charting of hard and soft tissues in a variety of settings as outlined in state law 
    • Prescription: Authorizes a dental hygienist to provide services for a patient of record of a dentist in a variety of settings outside of the private dental office as outlined by state law. The prescription shall be valid for 2 years unless a shorter length of time is designated by the dentist.
    • Limited License: Allows retired dental hygienists to provide services to the indigent or critical need populations within the state.
    • Foreign Trained Dentists: Florida is the only state that allows a foreign trained dentist who meets specific requirements to take the state clinical dental hygiene examination and become licensed as a registered dental hygienist.
  • Medical Providers: Physicians are exempt from the provisions of the Florida State Dental Practice Act and therefore can provide a variety of dental services, including the application of topical fluoride varnishes and other preventative services.

Back to Top

What are the dental workforce numbers in Florida?   

  • In 64 of Florida’s 67 counties, some of or the entire county has been designated as a Dental Professional Shortage area.
  • Florida’s dentist-to-population ratio is 1:1,961 (29th out of the 50 states in the US). Florida’s pediatric dentist-to-population ratio for ages 9 and under is approximately 1:8,000.
  • The dentist-to-dental hygienist ratio is just above 1:1. However, these numbers are not necessarily reflective of the capacity of the state’s dental workforce since they do not, for example, account for whether the providers are full- or part-time.
  • In Palm Beach County, it is estimated that 1.6% of pediatric dentists are active Medicaid providers and 7% of all dentists are Medicaid providers

Back to Top

What Education and Training is required?   

Dentists are trained in four-year post-baccalaureate graduate programs. Florida has two dental schools, which graduate 185 dentists/year, with 14 new pediatric residents/year (as of 2009, there are 58 accredited dental schools in the US overall). Only New York and Delaware require an additional one-year post-doctoral residency or fellowship to acquire a license.

Most hygienists obtain training in two-year certificate and associate degree programs or four-year baccalaureate programs within dental schools. Florida entry-level dental hygiene programs.

Back to Top

Do dental professionals coordinate with each other and with medical providers in Florida?   

  • Early Childhood Caries prevention including application of fluoridie varnish in physicians’ offices provided for Medicaid-Fee-for-Service and through Medicaid Health maintenance organizations (HMOs)
  • Collaboration with programs such as WIC has been successful

Back to Top

What recommendations do Florida oral health stakeholders have to enhance the dental workforce?   

Ideas identified in the Florida Surgeon General’s Ad Hoc Committee Report:

  • Examine the compensation and improve the work environment for state-employed dental providers in public health delivery systems such as county health departments (CHDs), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).
  • Fund the loan forgiveness program, reestablishing the Florida State Health Service Corps and increase utilization of the National Health Service Corps.
  • Strengthen the local, regional, or statewide coordinated volunteer workforce.
  • Provide technical assistance to communities wishing to recruit dental providers through the construction or equipping of dental office space in exchange for provision of dental services in their community.
  • Expand duties and reduce supervision levels for allied dental providers who practice in health access settings.
  • Provide dental school extern or residency opportunities in safety net programs.
  • Establish short-term training programs in pediatric dentistry.

Ideas identified in the HRSA Workforce Workgroup:

  • Work to reduce inequities with regards to access to dental health care
  • Promote collaboration among statewide dental and other health care providers
  • Provide consultative and technical assistance to state and professional organizations
  • Provide technical assistance, evaluation, administrative support, and quality assurance guidance to CHD dental programs which include on-site facilities, mobile units, contractual arrangements and teledentistry
  • Administer CHD categorical dental funding and administers dental contracts with a variety of public and private organizations

Back to Top

What are examples of approaches in other states?   

Back to Top

What federal programs exist that help build workforce in states?   

  • Grants through “Collins-Feingold” dental workforce program
  • Funding through the Health Reform (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for pre-doctoral training, practitioner education, faculty support and curriculum development
  • Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for health workforce programs and scholarship, loans and loan repayment
  • See also: Safety Net (e.g., National Health Service Corps; FQHC’s; Indian Health Service)

Back to Top