by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
The oral health workforce is critical to achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives focused on promoting and sustaining oral health for all Americans. Dentists and dental hygienists are licensed health professionals whose primary focus is dental disease prevention and oral health promotion and restoration. These professions are the foundation of the oral health workforce. Understanding the number, distribution and characteristics of dentists and dental hygienists can be useful to inform policy discussions related to oral health and access to dental care. Data on Indiana’s dentist and dental hygienist workforce are gathered through a voluntary survey administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) in conjunction with biennial license renewal. This report includes information on 2,259 dentists (58.8% response rate) and 3,231 dental hygienists (65.3% response rate) who renewed their license in 2016 and that met inclusion criteria (briefly describe inclusion criteria in footnote). Additional information on inclusion and exclusion criteria can be found in the Data Report: 2016 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey. Although great strides have been made to advance oral health in recent years, there is more work to be done. Nationally, 35.6% of adults over the age of 18 did not see a dentist in 2014,2 and 26% of adults age 20 to 64 were found to have untreated decay.3 Closer to home, we find that Hoosier children also struggle with dental diseases. A survey administered by the Indiana State Department of Health in 2013 revealed that 51% of Indiana third graders had a history of dental decay and 17% had untreated dental decay at the time of the survey.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
All dentists who renewed their Indiana licenses on – line in 2010 or 2012 were asked to complete a voluntary survey instrument that ha d a 95.4% response rate 1 in 2010 and 80.7% response rate 2 in 2012. The purpose of this study was to describe the dental workforce in Indiana with a focus on comparing graduates from the Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) to all other practicing ( n on – IUSD ) dentists in Indiana. Of primary interest is how well the graduates of IUSD are meeting the oral health needs of the population of the state, particularly in the rural and underserved areas. Using data from the Office of Alumni Relations at IUPUI, license numbers of IUSD alumni were matched to the license numbers of individuals in the 2010 or 2012 Indiana Dentist Licensure Survey datasets. Individuals whose license numbers matched with the alumni list were identified as “IUSD” graduates and those that did not match were identified as “non – IUSD” graduates. This report compares responses between 2,203 IUSD and 835 n on – IUSD graduates who renewed their licenses and completed the Indiana Dentist Licensure Surveys in 2010 or 2012, respectively. Lastly, most of the differences between groups were found to be statistically significant due to the large sample size of IUSD graduates compared to non – IUSD graduates. Thus, for the purposes of this report if the differences between groups were noted to be at least 10 percent they were considered remarkable and reported as such.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
The response rate for the survey was 47.6 percent. This response rate is notably lower than other health care re ‐ license surveys and the previous (2010) dental hygienist licensure survey. In the 2011 ‐ 2012 dental hygienist licensure period there were 4,583 total dental hygienists currently licensed in Indiana. Of the 4,583 total licenses, 4,078 listed an Indiana address on their license. There were 1,635 dental hygienists included in the sample for analysis. Individuals included for analysis were actively working in dental hygiene, responded to the electronic survey, and gave an Indiana practice address on their survey. Therefore, the sample analyzed in this report represents 35.7 percent of the total number of dental hygienist licenses in Indiana. When the mean age and length of licensure was compared between dental hygienists included in the sample and those who listed an Indiana address on their license but did not respond to the survey it was found that individuals in the sample were older (p < 0.001) and had been licensed for a longer period of time (p < 0.001).
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
The 2010 Indiana Dental Hygienist Re-licensure Survey was administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency under a contract with the Indiana State Department of Health. This report summarizes the responses to that survey.
