Ohio Dental Workforce Roundtable provides an overview of the recommendations of this workgroup.

Ohio Dental Workforce Roundtable

Download Ohio Dental Workforce Roundtable
(May 2006, pdf format, 852 KB)
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From the Executive Summary:

Significant gains in oral health at the national and state levels have been achieved over the last fifty years. Despite those gains, millions of Americans still suffer from preventable oral diseases. According to the findings of the Access to Dental Care in Ohio Report, 2000, many Ohioans, particularly those who are minority, low-income, or live in rural areas, have significant oral health needs and limited access to dental care. In 2003, the Director of the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. J. Nick Baird, reconvened the Director of Health’s Task Force on Access to Dental Care to update recommendations made in 2000. The resulting Recommendations of the Director of Health’s Task Force on Access to Dental Care, 2004 summarized accomplishments and made additional recommendations that were grouped in four areas: financial barriers; system capacity to serve the vulnerable; community partnerships; and awareness of the public and decision makers.

A key long range recommendation related to the system’s capacity to serve the vulnerable included the establishment of a Dental Workforce Task Force. Workforce concerns involve a complex range of public policy and professional practice issues that have received relatively little thoughtful action at both the national and state levels. The challenges are daunting and range from state budget cutbacks to the increased need for cultural competence to adequately serve ethnically diverse populations.

Throughout 2005, The Health Policy Institute of Ohio, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Health, hosted a series of “Roundtable” dialogues to consider how Ohio might be more effective in utilizing its oral health care workforce to address the oral health needs of Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens. Roundtable membership was inclusive and diverse, including representatives spanning the oral health care workforce. Additional representation came from the public and private not-for-profit sectors.Public clinics (also referred to as safety net dental clinics) are valued as one essential element in addressing access to oral health care for vulnerable Ohioans, including workforce strategies.

For more information, see the article HPIO Completes Work with Ohio Dental Workforce Roundtable or download the publication above.