Registered Dental Practitioners: New jobs for Kansas

Kansas is facing a serious shortage in the dental work force. The Kansas Dental Project is a joint effort by Kansas Action for Children, the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved and the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition to find a cost-effective, business-minded solution to this problem.

By allowing Registered Dental Practitioners to work in Kansas, we can:

• Grow businesses and create jobs
• Ensure healthy Kansans
• Save money

What is a Registered Dental Practitioner?

RDPs will be dental hygienists who obtain advanced education and training, pass a comprehensive clinical exam and work under a supervising dentist. They will provide routine and preventive care – like cleanings, fillings and some extractions, allowing dentists to focus on the more complicated procedures they are trained to do. RDPs will work in dental offices, safety-net clinics and community settings, such as nursing homes and schools. RDPs will always work under the direction of a dentist, much like how physicians and physician assistants work together.

Other states – and 52 other countries – are addressing dental workforce shortages by utilizing mid-level dental providers. Every study conducted on providers like RDPs shows they provide safe, quality care to patients.

ansas counties that do not have a dentist
 

Kansas counties that do not have enough dentists to serve their populations