Some dentists believe that the interstate dental compact will decrease costs going forward, but not everyone is in agreement.
Although lower costs could be one potential benefit of the compact, other dentists are concerned about potential increases in paperwork and regulatory overreach.
The Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact was activated last April and aims to increase license portability for dentists and dental hygienists. Ten states are currently members of the compact, with 15 additional states with legislation to join pending.
The commission held its first meeting last September and is expected to begin accepting applications and licenses this fall.
These four dentists recently connected with Becker's to share their thoughts on the compact and how it may change the industry.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How will the Dentists and Dental Hygienists interstate compact impact the dental workforce once it officially starts this fall?
Jeremy Burgin, DDS. Dentist of Burgin Dentistry (Clovis, N.M.): I believe it will be a good thing for the states involved as well as the professionals within these states. Unfortunately, my state does not even have legislation for the interstate compact in the works.
Mike Davis, DDS. Dentist of Smiles of Sante Fe (Albuquerque, N.M.): I doubt much overall impact will be seen with the national dental hygienist shortage. Moreover, problematic issues related to dentists in alleged shortage areas will see minimal change. The alleged provider shortage areas are "shortage areas" for significant reasons. The first is that numbers of demographics lack value for dental care and will not fund dental services adequately. Second is that some demographics are not conducive to raising children or employment and cultural activities for a spouse. That said, for some individual doctors and dental hygienists the Interstate Compact will make a world of positive difference. It represents a positive step, but no panacea.
Nels Ewoldsen, DDS. Dentist of Nels Ewoldsen DDS MSD (Cedar Rapids, Iowa): Like everything linked to states rights and regulatory compliance and overreach, dental compacts increase paperwork, increase regulatory hurdles, increase costs and create CE chaos. Dental compacts are more about creating an illusion that states are addressing manpower shortages than they are about state licensing flexibility. Given my 45 years in the profession and three active licenses in compact states, I believe provider shortages and regulatory overreach will increase with dental compacts.
David Jaeger, DDS. Dentist of Tonganoxie (Kan.) Family Dentistry: A pro of the compact is that it is a nice idea that will decrease cost and time of licensure. However, money talks and professionals will go where the money, benefits and standard of living are better, and that will inevitably be the more populated areas, leaving the rural communities worse off. Another con is giving up one's inalienable rights (or smaller government entity) to a larger institution or government will eventually lead to more guidelines and make it easier to add additional "red-tape" later. As Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety," which I believe correlates to this circumstance as we see easier licensure now, but will likely lead to less enticement for rural areas to attract dental professionals and will also lead to more need to monitor licenses on a national scale and then lead to more rules and red tape. This is likely something the larger DSOs are pushing in order to make it easier for them to increase revenue by moving dentists and hygienists as the companies see fit, once again making it harder on us working professionals.