Dental Examiners Case Study

Last February, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission (Dental Examiners). The case concerned the Board’s decision to stop teeth whitening services by non-dentists in the state. The Federal Trade Commission alleged that the Board had violated antitrust laws by attempting to limit competition by its teeth whitening decision. State entities such as the Board generally were thought to have immunity from antitrust laws, but the Supreme Court’s decision reversed this long-held belief and found that state boards could be held liability if certain conditions were met. The major condition was that the board be made up of a majority of active market

A vocation as a dental hygienist offers an extensive variety of difficulties. In the dental office, the dental specialist and the dental hygienist cooperate to meet the oral wellbeing needs of patients. Since every state has its own particular regulations with respect to their obligations, the scope of administrations performed by hygienists shifts from state to state. A percentage of the administrations gave by dental hygienists might include: quiet screening strategies, for example, evaluation of oral wellbeing conditions, audit of the wellbeing history, oral tumor screening, head and neck investigation, dental graphing and taking circulatory strain and beat taking and creating dental radiographs (x-beams) evacuating math and plaque (hard

While state responses to Dental Examiners have been limited, Kansas has many potential responses it could take. These approaches range significantly in how much disruption they may cause to the Kansas board system, and how much liability protection they may provide for boards. There are four main approaches, I will discuss, 1) maintaining the current system, 2) providing for the indemnification of state board members, 3) increasing supervision for state boards, and 4) changing the membership composition of state boards.

They can examine and diagnose patients, and are allowed to do certain treatments that are above a hygienist’s scope of practice, but everything must be checked and allowed by a supervising dentist on site.1 They are able to prep and place stainless steel crowns on primary teeth, perform pulpotomies on primary teeth, and do some extractions that are simple and do not require major work done. The preventive care that they are able to do includes placing sealants, apply fluoride to the teeth, and also basic health education. If a mid-level provider currently has a hygiene license, then the number of things that they are able to do increases.2 This is very good because it can expand their scope of practice, even farther with the knowledge that they already have on top of what they can do being a mid-level provider. As of right now, there are a few states that allow a mid-level dental provider to work with a little different scope of practice than everyone else. A couple of these states include Alaska and Minnesota. In Alaska, they are trained through a federal program and as of now, they are only allowed to work on tribal lands. In Minnesota, they were the first state to be established by

In the medical field, there is many ideas of a mid level provider, this is just one, the mid level dental provider. A midlevel dental provider or therapist is commonly unheard of but there is a need for them, they do need dental education, and not everywhere has them though. There is a lot that they can do for the community and also the dentist. Mid level dental providers have a lot in common with a physician, but also very many differences. All of these will be discussed as we move on.

The board consists of five members, who act as a quasi-judicial body that make decisions based upon cases of unfair labor. The board is compromised of more than thirty regional offices that conduct elections, investigate charges, and establish whether to dismiss, settle, or issue complaints. The jurisdiction of the counsel’s power is responsible for investigating and prosecuting claims that suggest practices of unfair labor. The Counsel is also found to be independent of the Board but once the Board has made a decision it becomes the General Counsel's duty to sustain the decisions of the Board, even if the Counsel advocated towards the opposite position.

The regulations that dictates the scope of practice, the supervision, and the licensure requirement of a dental hygienist, are made by the state dental boards of each state. In most of the states, the dental boards are composed of dentist, one or two dental hygienists, and one or two public members. The fact that dentists are usually the majority of the board members, has prohibited the career of dental hygiene to become more independent, and provide its services to a broader group of people. The state of California, is the only state that has a state board formed by four consumers, one general practice or public health dentist, and four dental hygienists. This allows the dental hygienists to have full authority to make rules and regulations

Professionalism encompasses who we are and what we do. As dental hygienists, we are licensed oral health care providers who have undergone a rigorous education and possess certain skills that others do not. We exhibit many interrelated roles such as clinician, educator, researcher, advocate, mentor and many more. To be considered a profession, a specific field or area of study traditionally must have several characteristics. These include a specialized body of knowledge and skill of value to society, an intensive academic course of study, set standards of practice determined and regulated by the group,

A preliminary question is what are antitrust laws? They are a series of laws designed to protect competition in the marketplace. Antitrust laws prevent restrains of trade or commerce. Black’s Law Dictionary defines antitrust laws as “[t]he body of law designed to protect trade and commerce from restraints, monopolies, price-fixing, and price discrimination.” The main law regulating antitrust is the Sherman Antitrust Act, which makes it illegal for individuals or groups to restrain trade or commerce. Besides the Sherman Act, the other law that factors into Dental Examiners is the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits any “[u]nfair methods of competition.” This law serves as the basis for the majority of Federal Trade

Antitrust are a series of laws designed to protect competition in the marketplace. Antitrust laws prevent restraints of trade or commerce. Black’s Law Dictionary defines antitrust laws as “[t]he body of law designed to protect trade and commerce from restraints, monopolies, price-fixing, and price discrimination.” The main law regulating antitrust is the Sherman Antitrust Act, which makes it illegal for individuals or groups to restrain trade or commerce. Besides the Sherman Act, the other law that factors into Dental Examiners is the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits any “[u]nfair methods of competition.” This law serves as the basis for the majority of Federal Trade Commission lawsuits such as Dental Examiners. The

As of now only a few states have independent dental hygienist one being the state of Maine where I attended dental hygiene school. In Massachusetts, where I plan to practice dental hygiene, independent dental hygienist is still under review in the state house. Seeing more states approve independent dental hygienist practice would be a major achievement in the dental hygiene field. Dental hygienists go through a lot of examination in order to be registered. Taking a minimum of four exams they under go more testing than dental students. Our experience in providing patient care is exceptional producing x-rays, administering local anesthetic, patient education, scaling, and much more. Allowing hygienist to practice independently would open up many opportunities for patients and registered dental hygienists. However, this is a challenge because many dentists do not want the hygienists taking away business from them.

After all, we have gladly provided exceptional care in our offices – how can we ethically fail to address the need for ongoing dental care for those who may have many years still ahead of them but lack the ability to come to us? (Brown, 5)

Both accreditation and legal mandates follow different processes. I will review the differences between the two and the process they follow. I will also discuss what is measured in quality outcomes. And I will talk about how this affects health care administrators as far as the demands they have to meet.

This reflection acts as my fourth reflection since I have started my internship at Comfort Dental under the Guidance of Dr. Trino Nuno. The semester is coming to an end, and I have enjoyed my time at Comfort Dental., I previously had a clinical and administrative internship at Smile Works Dentistry in Rockwall, Texas and I can now tell you that my experience at these two dental practices was incredibly different. At Smile Works, I quickly got used to the way the practice was run because it was not that complicated and I only had one doctor’s schedule to manage. However, at Comfort Dental I still struggle with managing day-to-day functions. The reason I struggle is that Comfort Dental has three doctors and a lot more staff. Also, the computer system that I mastered at Smile Works is not the same computer system that they use at Comfort Dental. I got the chance to use all to same skills in this internship. I answered phones, checked that patient’s insurance plans are eligible to be billed and scanned paper documents into a hard drive.

Dentistry is the profession in which the dentist helps with the prevention and treatment of mouth diseases and malfunctions. The dentist performs many duties within their profession. Some duties the dentist may do on a daily basis are: diagnose oral problems, fill cavities, write prescriptions, perform root canals, treat gum disease, examining radiographs, removing root decay, and providing instruction to the patients along with many other duties. Becoming a dentist allows for many different working opportunities. A dentist has the opportunity to work in the military, in a hospital, in administration, or they can even work in a classroom and teach. Most commonly though dentist tend to work in an office which they may own fully or