Michigan recently licensed its first dental therapist in an effort to improve dental care access in the state.
Six notes:
1. The Michigan legislature authorized the practice of dental therapy in 2018.
2. Michigan established a licensure pathway in 2021, but because there are no dental therapy programs in the state, students have been forced to undergo training in other states.
3. The state’s Department of Health and Human Services is working with Big Rapids, Mich.-based Ferris State University to develop an in-state program, according to a Jan. 8 news release.
4. The Michigan dental therapy program is being developed using an oral health workforce grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
5. The program is expected to launch within the next couple of years, which would make it the sixth dental therapy program in the U.S.
6. Dental therapy is authorized in at least some settings in 14 states.
