A new dental therapy program is currently being developed at Ferris State University to make dental care more accessible across the state.
This comes after the state licensed its first dental therapist who is now practicing in the Upper Peninsula.
The program is in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and will be the first dental therapy program in Michigan.
Unlike dentists, dental therapists provide basic dental care like cleanings, exams and fillings in settings outside of an office like schools and community health centers.
According to a press release by the MDHHS, many areas across Michigan do not have access to proper dentists.
“While Michigan has 59.1 dentists per 100,000 people, they are not equally distributed throughout the state or representative of the populations they serve,” the release said. “More than 1.5 million residents live in federally designated dental shortage areas with limited access to care.”
In 2021, Michigan started its first pathway for a dental therapy license, but there are no current programs in place. The press release states that students looking to be dental therapists have to look for training in other states.
FSU's program will be supported by a federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant to help with curriculum design and accreditation through the Commission on Dental Accreditation, according to the release.
The university is looking to launch the program in the next couple years.
