State must expand access to dental care
Over recent weeks, Florida is seeing an uptick in influenza outbreaks with a corresponding spike in emergency room visits. It’s certainly not uncommon this time of year, particularly with recent holiday gatherings.
Fortunately, we have several resources to help us when we get sick: visits to our doctors’ offices, urgent care centers, telemedicine and hospitals. But there is an area that is often overlooked when it comes to our total well-being: dental health.
Growing research shows that oral health can often impact a person’s overall physical and mental health. In fact, failure to treat dental-related ailments was a contributing factor in the unfortunate death of Mike Williams, the former Tampa Bay Bucs wide receiver.
Accessible dental care is essential, yet in Florida many residents struggle to find enough providers in their area. Additionally, many have faced the dilemma of having to cancel an appointment only to be told the next available one is four months away.
One of the main barriers to care is a lack of dental professionals – both dentists and hygienists.
Florida ranks 32 out of 50 states in dentists per capita and is currently seeing a lower hygienist ratio than in 2015. Nearly every county across the state – 65 out of 67 – are considered regions where patients have trouble accessing dental care due in part to this provider shortage. About 6 million Floridians live in these underserved regions, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Floridians deserve better. We need a solution now to ensure residents across the state are able to receive the dental care they need and take charge of their whole health. A solution, fortunately, is at our fingertips: expanded and expedited licensure.
Wisely, all states require dentists and other health care providers to apply for and receive a license before they are able to treat patients. But licensing requirements differ from state to state, with limited options for licensure reciprocity or expedited licensure. So if a dentist licensed in another state was considering a move to Florida, they could be discouraged by the time and cost it would take to obtain a new license.
That is why the Florida Legislature needs to prioritize license reciprocity.
The Live Healthy Act introduced and championed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, along with state Sens. Colleen Burton and Gayle Harrell, would allow for licensure reciprocity in the state through standardized benchmarks such as graduation from accredited schools, passage of nationally recognized exams and minimum experience requirements.
With 1,000 new residents moving to our state each day, this common-sense solution will help shore up our health care and oral care workforce issues, while maintaining the best quality treatment.
The state Legislature plans to make a direct impact on our constituents’ health and well-being this session. I look forward to supporting the Live Healthy Act and encourage all my colleagues to support this timely and important licensure reciprocity measure.
Joe Gruters represents District 22, which includes Sarasota and portions of Manatee County, in the Florida Senate. He is the chairman of the Senate’s Regulated Industries Committee.