By Kate Breslin, Schuyler Center President and CEO
Every person deserves access to good health care, and that includes dental care. That is not a radical idea. It is a basic expectation that our health systems should be built to meet. Yet right now, too many New Yorkers cannot get basic dental care. Not because they have not tried or don’t care, but because the doors are locked. There is no dentist in their area. The nearby practices do not take their insurance. Appointments are unavailable. Out-of-pocket care is unaffordable. These are not personal failures. They are the predictable result of a system that wasn’t designed to reach everyone.
Schuyler Center recognized this pressing issue and launched the Future Oral Health Workforce Project in 2024. Over two years, this initiative brought together and synthesized insights from over 300 individuals, statewide studies, expert consultations, and community convenings to develop comprehensive recommendations for building a more equitable and effective oral health system. The goal is both simple and challenging: Bring good, affordable oral health care to more New Yorkers in more areas of the state.
As a result of this work, Schuyler Center is committed to authorizing dental therapists to practice in New York. Dental therapists are trained members of a dental team that expands access where they practice.
We didn’t arrive at this conclusion without taking the time to talk with consumers and providers; to thoroughly investigate how dental therapy is working in the other states where it is authorized; and review data about safety and effectiveness spanning several decades. The data and the experiences in other states show that adding dental therapists to the oral health workforce brings better care to more people, especially people with low incomes and in rural communities.
For Schuyler Center, this is both an equity and a public health issue. No one should lack access to dental care because of where they live or what insurance they have. As an organization dedicated to reducing poverty and creating an equitable New York for all populations, we see that dental therapy can improve access to oral health treatment for the most underserved populations and can create good jobs near the people they serve.
And it can start working soon: Other states have shown that it is possible to create and open a program to train dental therapists in just a few years.
We are fully committed to bringing dental therapy to New York State because getting dental care shouldn’t depend on your zip code or your income. That is basic fairness and basic humanity.
We invite you to join us to get this done, and in a few years we will all be celebrating the graduation of New York’s first class of dental therapists.
About New York Partnership for Dental Therapy
The New York Partnership for Dental Therapy is a statewide coalition of organizations committed to expanding access to oral health care by authorizing dental therapists to practice in New York State. Dental therapists are credentialed providers who bring preventive and restorative dental care to communities that have long gone without adequate access.
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