by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
Identifying supply and distribution of the professional oral health workforce is crucial in understanding the capacity to meet oral health needs and improve overall population health of Indiana citizens. Data presented in this report provide a snapshot of key demographic and practice characteristics for the oral health workforce. The 2016 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey Data Report presents key information derived from data collected from the dentist and dental hygienist re-licensure survey administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) during the license renewal period. In 2016 3,862 dentists and 4,946 dental hygienists renewed their professional licenses. Of these, 2,259 dentists and 3,231 dental hygienists reported having an Indiana practice address and were included in this report. Marion County encompasses the largest reported oral health workforce full-time equivalents (FTEs): 229.3 FTE for dentists and 309.8 FTE for dental hygienists. Based on the samples in this report, the greatest need for oral health professionals is in rural, less populous counties; 12 counties (Brown, Crawford, Martin, Newton, Ohio, Pike, Randolph, Pulaski, Switzerland, Starke, Union, Warren) reported 1.0 FTE or less for dentists in general practice or dental hygienists. A great need exists for pediatric dentistry since 81 counties had 0.0 FTE for pediatric dentists. Access to oral health care services is compounded by the low proportion of dentists who accept Medicaid (49.0%) and the fact that over three-quarters (79.6%) do not offer a sliding-fee scale. This report details important demographic and practice characteristics for the oral health workforce and examines these data specifically for dentists and dental hygienists. The 2016 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey Data Report presents a snapshot of data on the dentist and dental hygienist professions to provide stakeholders with information needed to improve the quality and accessibility of oral health care for Indiana residents through policymaking, workforce development, and resource allocation.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
This report describes the verification protocol conducted by researchers for verification of primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and dentists in Indiana.
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
The dentist workforce is the primary provider of oral health care to Indiana residents. In 2014, there were 3,982 dentists who held an active license in Indiana. These dentists were not surveyed during their re-licensure period, as has been done in the past, but were contacted by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) via email in the fall of 2014 and asked to complete a brief survey. Despite follow-up reminders from IPLA and the Indiana Dentist Association (IDA) survey response was low (13.4%). The previous survey, which was administered during dentists’ 2012 re-licensure period, had a response rate of 80.7 percent. Of the 3,982 actively licensed dentists who were offered the survey, there were 532 respondents. Only 424 dentists were included in this analysis after filtering respondents to include only those who were actively licensed, practicing in Indiana, and currently practicing as dentists. Because of the small proportion of the actively licensed dentist workforce in Indiana that is represented in this analysis, it is unclear whether this sample is representative of the overall workforce. Comparing 2014 survey data with 2012 survey data indicated similar patterns in dental specialty and hours worked per week. However, slightly more rural dentists responded to the 2014 survey than the 2012 survey. Comparisons between responders and non-responders to the 2014 survey indicate that those who completed the survey were older than those who did not. The collection of high quality health workforce data is dependent upon reaching a large proportion of the health workforce. The low response rate to this survey suggests that this methodology is not optimal for collecting data on Indiana’s health professional workforces. Survey response fell by 67.3 percent compared to the 2012 dentist re-licensure survey. Embedding the survey instrument in the health professional re-licensure process has consistently yielded high (>80%) response rates across all health professions and should be considered as the primary method of survey administration for future data collection.
