In Pennsylvania, the State Board of Dentistry (SBOD) will vote on September 15, 2017 to decide whether or not to move forward with a draft proposal seeking to expand practice settings for Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioners (PHDHP) to include private settings of hospice and homebound patients, childcare settings, and physicians’ offices.   

The Pennsylvania AGD is asking all members practicing in the state to sign the PA AGD’s online petition asking the SBOD to reject the proposal, and submit comments to the SBOD voicing their opposition to the proposal.  For information on how to contact the SBOD and submit comments, please visit the Pennsylvania AGD’s webpage dedicated to the issue.

In California, State Dental Director Jayanth Kumar, DDS, MPH, published an article providing an outline for the goals and priorities of the state’s oral health plan for the next ten years.  The article was published in the August, 2017 edition of the Journal of the California Dental Association.

In the article, Dr. Kumar focuses on strategies to promote preventative care at the community level, and specifically references the effectiveness of programs implemented at the local level which provide sealants and screenings for kindergarten students.

In California’s 2017-2018 budget (finalized in June, 2017) reimbursement rates for Denti-Cal, the state’s dental Medicaid program, were raised via a $140 million allocation.  The budget also allocates $30 million to the state dental director’s office, and will restore adult dental benefits for Denti-Cal recipients in 2018.

If you would like more information on legislative matters in your state, or are interested in carrying out advocacy on AGD issues, please contact us at advocacy@agd.org or visit the AGD’s Advocacy webpage.