GARY VOLLAN

Perspective

Children were the focus of the Wyoming Oral Health Summit recently in Cheyenne, and rightfully so. But the urgency to focus on the 33 to 35 percent of Wyoming adults, 18 years and older who do without oral health care is just as important, in order to respond to the American Association for Dental Research's report and the Surgeon General's report "to build an effective health infrastructure that meets the oral health needs of all Americans and integrates oral health effectively into overall health."

A good number of adults are ineligible for Wyoming's Medicaid programs (which pays for one set of dentures in a lifetime), or Wyoming's Public Health Senior Citizens program (it pays $800 a year for dental expenses). These people have no dental insurance.

I have submitted a request to members of the Health Advisory Council, through Dr. Brent Sherard, director and state health officer of the Wyoming Department of Health. The request is that mid-level and alternative oral health care providers such as denturists and dental health aide therapists be included in the Wyoming Oral Health Initiative for Wyoming for people who are in need of better access to affordable dental care.

As a licensed denturist, I'm determined to once again provide my services to the Wyoming people as I did from in 1993-2004, before the Wyoming Dental Board took steps to shut me down because I was opening an office in Worland as a competitor, providing denture services. Some of the issues I'm concerned with are Dr. Grant Christensen's actions as a Wyoming Public Health Dental Officer, testifying against the denturist profession without statistics or data backing his testimony. He testified in front of a 2008 Wyoming legislative committee that the denturist profession is a public safety concern. Christensen also testified in front of the Wyoming Silver-Haired Legislature committee in September 2008 that the denturist profession is a public safety concern.

The dentists' conduct at the Wyoming Oral Health Summit, when they interrupted Marge Meyer, a guest speaker for senior access and chairperson for the Wyoming Silver-Haired Legislature, was wrong. This happened while Meyer was giving her presentation that included positive information about the Wyoming Silver-Haired Legislature taking a denturist bill to state legislators. I went to her defense and to defend the denturist profession, as the discussion between dentists and myself turned into an argument in front of those attending the summit.

The argument was about Bates Technical College, which teaches the denturist program in Tacoma, Wash., being accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. The dentists claimed that Bates had no accreditation (http://www.bates.ctc.edu/page.asp?view=227).

The Arizona Dental Board approved the denturist program at Bates Technical College in 2008, for graduates of the Bates Denturist Program to take the Arizona state board and to be licensed as an Arizona denturist.

Christensen has no data to support his claim that the denturist profession is a public safety concern. Denturists claim the services denturists provide in the six states (Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Maine) that license and regulate denturists include accessible, quality denture care that is more affordable, along with referral services.

Denturist services in the regulated states have a good public safety record. Regulating mid-level and alternative oral health care providers such as denturists and dental health aide therapists along with independent practices for hygienists would provide better access and offer a choice for the Wyoming people for affordable dental services.

GARY W. VOLLAN L.D., Basin

Coordinator, Wyoming State Denturist Association