Two-Part Public TV Series on Dental Access Disparities and Midlevel Providers
Tentatively Scheduled to Begin Tonight A producer at the PBS "NewsHour," the network's one-hour nightly report, informed us this morning that the program may run tonight the first of a two-part look at oral health care disparities. (Check local listings for times on your public TV stations.) One part of the two-night series will examine the larger picture of oral health disparities in America and is likely to include a look at charitable care, using a recent Virginia Dental Association Mission of Mercy event as an example of both the terrible need that exists among some populations and one way in which dentistry responds to that need. The second will focus on Alaska's dental therapists, including the ADA's and Alaska Dental Society's opposition to that program. ADA President Dr. William Calnon gave "NewsHour" reporter Betty Ann Bowser an extensive interview at his Rochester, NY, office last month. "NewsHour" also traveled to Alaska to document therapists and their supervisors in the field, and interviewed Alaska Dental society President Dr. Christine Moleski. Dr. Moleski's interview focused almost exclusively on the therapist program; Dr. Calnon's conversation covered the breadth of dental disparities while making clear the ADA's unequivocal opposition to non-dentists performing surgical/irreversible procedures. ADA staff has been working with the show's producers since late summer, serving as a resource by pointing them toward the MoM project and explaining to them that workforce issues are only one of several barriers that impede millions of Americans from attaining good oral health. That work ultimately led to the second part of the story, which focuses on the broader access picture, rather than exclusively on therapists. We will not have definitive word on when the two parts will actually air until late in the day. As is always the case in the news business, things can change at the last minute, depending on the events of the day. For more information, please contact Richard Green in Public Affairs, greenr@ada.org, (202) 789-5170 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (202) 789-5170 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. This email has been distributed to all members of the American Dental Association. | 
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