The Rural Dental Dilemma
If you live in areas that are inaccessible to dentists, would you consider having your dental work performed by an individual with a bachelor’s degree in dentistry instead of a doctorate degree? Well, a program of this type does not exist in the United States, yet! However, there are such programs in Canada New Zealand, and England that are using dental therapists. Some dental schools in the United States have their students go on two month rotations to rural areas of the country to perform dental procedures. However, when these students graduate, most of them opt to practice in urban areas. Even schools that offer tuition forgiveness, and financial incentives, find that their students will opt to work in urban areas. To rectify this problem, some universities are considering accepting a greater number of students. Some of those who would normally be rejected would be accepted under the condition that they practice in an assigned rural area for certain durations. How many of these students would say no if this opportunity presented itself?
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