Florida Board Of Dentistry

UF has plan to provide dental care to poor, rural areas

The state ranks fourth in the U.S. in the number of dentists, but poor and rural populations fail to get dental care, according to a recent report to the Florida Board of Governors.

The report placed the blame largely on the state having the nation's lowest Medicaid dental reimbursement rates, leading to 21 of the state's 67 counties lacking dental providers that take Medicaid.

The report comes as University of Central Florida trustees last month passed a plan for a dental school and Florida A&M and Florida Atlantic universities are considering their own schools. The University of Florida currently is the only state university with a dental school and is proposing a plan to help address the state's problems with dental care through its program.

"Educating more dentists does not necessarily address the access-to-care problem," said Dr. Teresa Dolan, dean of the UF College of Dentistry.

The discussion about dental care followed a Board of Governors debate Thursday about a regulation on universities offering academic programs outside designated regions. UF opposes the measure as written, with UF Provost Joe Glover saying before the debate that "artificially restraining universities into service areas does not seem like the most 21st century concept that I ever heard."

The Board of Governors publicly noticed the regulation on Thursday, the first step before possible passage, but created a task force to recommend changes before a scheduled vote in September.

Dolan noted that UF operates a statewide network of dental clinics aimed at improving care for poor and special-needs patients. Locations include UF-owned clinics at St. Petersburg College and the Naples campus of Edison State College as well as partnerships with county health departments and other centers throughout the state.

"The college has a strong commitment to under-served populations," she said.

Dolan said UF's plan would increase the college's enrollment by a "modest" amount, adding 80 students to a nearly 330-student class of dental doctorate students over six years. Other elements of the plan would recruit minority students and require clinical training in community clinics.

The plan is projected to cost $2.8 million in initial state funding and $4.6 million in annual funding once the college has expanded fully.

The Board of Governors report found that establishing a new dental school might cost $52 million, based on the cost of Lake Erie College's new 400-student dental school being opened near Bradenton. Central Florida plans to enroll nearly 400 students in a dental school at the "medical city" development at Lake Nona but is not requesting state funding.

ADA subcommittee explores wide range of ethics initiatives ...

A number of comprehensive initiatives designed to bolster ethics and professionalism in dentistry have come into clearer focus since the Council on Dental Education and Licensure and Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs appointed the Joint Subcommittee on Ethics and Integrity in Dental Education last year.

The subcommittee was put in place following the 2007 Symposium on Integrity and Ethics in Dental Education, which convened after a series of well-publicized allegations of cheating by dental students and graduates on graduation requirements, national board examinations and clinical licensure exams.

The subcommittee met April 26-27 at ADA Headquarters to discuss ongoing projects that address ethics and how the ADA might be able to assist with those projects. Representatives of stakeholder groups in attendance included the American College of Dentists, American Dental Education Association, American Association of Dental Examiners, American Student Dental Association, American Society for Dental Ethics, Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations and the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

"There are no simple or quick answers to the complex ethical issues facing students, dental schools and the entire profession," said Dr. W. Scott Waugh, a CEBJA member and subcommittee co-chair. "Some of the integrity issues in education that have occurred are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a need for all of us as professionals to address principles of ethics in our own practices."

"The profession is well aware that there are concerns with ethical conduct, and not just in dental education," said Dr. Frank Maggio, CDEL chair. "It's really become a societal issue. We recognize that as health care providers, dentists are held to higher standards than society as a whole. It's something we take very seriously. Misconduct in education and practice just can't occur."

Many of the stakeholder groups have already implemented innovative approaches to furthering ethics and integrity, and the ADA has emerged as a facilitator of discussions to determine whether these activities could be part of an ADA initiative.

"Like other professions, dentistry has become increasingly aware of breaches in unethical behavior and is taking steps to address the problem," said Dr. Stephen K. Young, CDEL member and subcommittee co-chair who also represented ADEA at last month's meeting. He noted that ADA, ADEA and AADE have held ethics-related symposia in the last year.

Florida statutes 455 & 466, Rule 21G

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Supreme Court reporter

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West's federal supplement