Taking a Stand For Oral Health In Indian Country
By Bethanne Fox, March 15, 2016
“What this really looks like is a 3-year old with all of their teeth decayed down to the gum line.” That’s Terry Batliner, a dentist, and member of the Cherokee Nation, describing the state of oral health care in Indian Country to Marketplace’s Dan Gorenstein.
You can listen to the entire story here. It’s a powerful explanation of how tribal communities are fed up with living in a world where Native children have four times the tooth decay white kids have.
The good news is that things are changing. Indian Country’s leaders are taking matters into their own hands and bringing dental therapists to tribal communities.
Dental therapists are members of the dental team that work with dentists—similarly to how physician assistants and nurse practitioners work with doctors. They provide routine and preventive care out in communities, freeing up dentists to do more complex things only they can do and getting dental care to more people.
As Terry described in a recent MomsRising blog post, the need is substantial and dentistry’s outdated model of care isn’t enough to get people the care they need. But, evidence for dental therapy is strong—dental therapists have expanded care to 45,000 Alaska Natives who would have otherwise gone without.
Moving forward, Indian Country can look to leaders like the Swinomish’s Brian Cladoosby who is also the president of the National Congress of American Indians. Mr. Cladoosby has taken a bold stand in Washington State, defying state law by hiring a dental therapist to care for his people, and he is encouraging others to do the same.
