EFFORTS TO EXPAND DENTAL TEAM WORKFORCE IN OHIO CONTINUE
Dean Carroll Ann Trotman and other faculty and staff from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry hosted a meeting with Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and other interested parties, including the Ohio Dental Association, to discuss dental team workforce shortage issues in Ohio.
The ODA has made expanding the dental team workforce a priority in recent years and those efforts continue. Last month, interested parties met with Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry to discuss dental team workforce shortage issues in Ohio.
Dean Carroll Ann Trotman and other faculty and staff from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry hosted the meeting, which included ODA Executive Director David Owsiany, ODA Government Affairs Consultant Adam Hewit, representatives from the government affairs teams at The Ohio State University and the Wexner Medical Center, representatives from the office of the Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, OSU College of Dentistry Alumni Society Vice-President Dr. Tracy Poole-Swerlein, and others.
During the meeting, the dental community expressed concerns to Gavarone about the dental hygienist shortage across the state, which is making it harder for dental offices to care for patients.
Poole-Swerlein, who is a past chair of the ODA’s Council on Dental Care Programs and Dental Practice and a general dentist in the Toledo area, said that she really appreciated Gavarone making the time to come to the dental school to get a tour and learn about the dental hygienist shortage in Ohio. “Senator Gavarone is my state senator, and I have been speaking with her about these issues for the last several months, so she understands the gravity of the situation for Ohio’s dentists and their patients and can take that message to her colleagues in the Ohio Senate.”
This engagement with Gavarone, who is the majority floor leader of the Ohio Senate, comes on the heels of the ODA Day at the Statehouse in May where ODA member dentists and dental students met with about 100 legislative offices to educate legislators and their staff on the need to expand the number of dental hygienists being trained in Ohio.
The ODA staff and the dentists who volunteer on the ODA’s Executive Committee and Dental Education and Licensure Committee have taken a number of other steps over the past several years to address the dental hygienist shortage issue, including:
- Meeting with all of Ohio’s dental hygiene program directors concerning expanding their capacity and class size.
- Joining with other state dental associations to advocate for reform to CODA’s accreditation standards to more easily allow dental hygiene education programs to expand.
- Sending “return to work” messages to Ohio dental hygienists who have left the workforce.
- Working with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to present the first ever Dental Assisting Professional Development Day to dental assisting instructors from across Ohio.
- Supporting the development and/or funding of the new dental hygiene school at Hocking College, a new dental hygiene clinic in southern Ohio, expansion of the classroom facilities at the Lakeland Community College’s dental hygiene program, a dental hygiene clinic at Columbus State and continuation of Youngstown State’s dental hygiene program.
- Supporting legislative changes to Ohio law allowing dental assistants a third avenue to obtain certification through American Medical Technologists in addition to the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) and the Commission on Ohio Dental Assistant Certification.
- Advocating for Ohio to adopt the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact to improve dentist and dental hygienist practice portability.
- Promoting careers in dental hygiene and dental assisting via radio ads and targeted social media campaigns.
Owsiany pointed out that several dental hygiene education programs in Ohio, including Shawnee State University in Portsmouth and Sinclair Community College in Dayton, have recently expanded their class sizes and others report plans to follow suit. “We are working to continue that momentum of expanding the number of dental hygienists getting trained in Ohio and appreciate Dean Trotman hosting this meeting at the OSU College of Dentistry so we can shine an even brighter spotlight on the hygiene shortage issue.”
