July 30, 2024

Magnified by the pandemic, New York’s shortage of dental care providers continues to be a pervasive and growing issue. Many rural areas of the state have as few as one dental practitioner for every 4,000 residents, attributable largely to the number of dentists retiring and the number of dentists leaving the state after graduating dental school in search of jobs in areas where their income will be higher. While the shortage affects every New Yorker, it disproportionately impedes access to needed dental care by elderly, disabled and low-income residents. A 2023 survey revealed that, of the 3,000 New York residents who responded, approximately 40% could not afford dental care, 13% only received dental care through their local emergency facility, and 22% deemed toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss to be too expensive. To combat this oral health crisis, the state would need an additional 1,100 dentists to provide care throughout the state.

In response, lawmakers have set out to expand access to dental care through programs that will streamline the licensing process for dentists trained out of state by allowing them to engage in a preceptorship in lieu of traditional residency requirements, offer student loan repayment for doctors dedicated to serving underserved areas, allow dental practices to purchase more affordable health insurance plans for employees, and exempt sales taxes on oral hygiene products. Some also argue for the removal of federal policies that allow dentists to opt out of Medicare and Medicaid programs and an increase in the state’s budget for Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental care. Yet another suggestion has been to fill the void of dental care by permitting dental therapists (licensed dental care providers who perform some of the most common procedures, including preparing and filling cavities) to provide dental care under the supervision of a New York-licensed dentist. However, of the 13 states that currently authorize dental therapists to practice dentistry, New York is not among them.

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