Uniting the Northern California Dentist community is the main aim of NCAGD, through that we wish to further the interests of the community to better the society and the nation. We put forth our educated and researched opinions on several issues. These issues concern the nature of oral helath care, the dental profession, bills and laws pertaining to the profession and keeping track of the latest health care trends.
The California AGD’s Position on Assembly Bill 1174 (Teledentistry under Medi-Cal)
Passed by the CAGD Board of Directors on 01/24/2014
The California Academy of General Dentistry’s position on AB1174 is to support, if amended as stated below:
The California Academy of General Dentistry (CAGD) believes this bill should focus on establishing teledentistry as a billable and reimbursable service in the Medi-Cal program. Also, to allow properly trained RDAs, RDHs, RDAEFs and RDHAPs to determine which radiographs to perform under the supervision of a licensed dentist.
Expanding the reach of licensed dentists into underserved areas, using the tools of teledentistry, is supported by the CAGD. HWPP172 demonstrated that the power of The Virtual Dental Home lies in allowing underserved and isolated patients to obtain a high quality dental examination by a licensed dentist. That way, patients with treatment needs can be identified, treatment plans can be developed and their treatment facilitated by putting patients in contact with appropriate dental providers.
AB1174 reaches far beyond The Virtual Dental Home’s dental outreach model demonstrated by HWPP172 by allowing ITR procedures, where decayed tooth structure is removed without local anesthesia, by non-dentists.
The CAGD believes that HWPP172 did not constitute a rigorous and scientifically sound analysis of non-dentists removing decayed tooth structure. Furthermore, California’s most vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, special needs persons) deserve high quality dental care with a bias towards patient safety.
The CAGD believes that the removal of decayed tooth structure is a surgical, irreversible procedure that should be done only by a licensed dentist.
The CAGD asks that the bill be amended by removing the ITR procedure.
(For further info about AB-1174, check the California Legislative Information website)