The Illinois State Dental Society recently participated in a multi-state coalition to ask the Commission on Dental Accreditation to expand student-to-faculty ratios.
The dental group said May 26 that expanding the ratios would increase the number of graduates entering the workforce each year, including dental assistants and hygienists. It would also have a more immediate impact on the industry compared to starting a new training program.
The dental agency requested that CODA immediately match the faculty-to-student ratio in the dental hygiene accreditation standards to the dental therapy accreditation and dental assisting accreditation standards. This would create a faculty-to-student ratio of 1 to 6 for all three auxiliary professions.
CODA also created an ad hoc group at the request of the dental society. The ad hoc group is tasked with drafting a rationale for setting faculty-to-student ratios for all CODA accreditation standards. The accreditation commission requested that each state provide data on the intersection between workforce shortages and the accreditation standards.