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WTEN

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — Over eight million New Yorkers receive Medicaid benefits, but their dental coverage is limited. State lawmakers are looking to bridge the gap between providers and patients. In New York, Medicaid is required to provide dental benefits to children, but states choose what’s covered for adults…

…Dental therapists are mid level practitioners who have completed a dental therapy program; their education requirements vary by state. They provide dental evaluations, preventative and restorative care and minor surgeries. “So dental therapists primarily tend to work in underserved areas,” said Theekshana Fernando, research scientist at the Oral Health Research Center at UALBANY. He said in 2022, they conducted a study including dental therapists in every day practice.

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Times Union

ALBANY — A growing faculty shortage at New York nursing schools may undercut efforts to boost the state’s nursing workforce, particularly in upstate New York, new data shows.

One in six full-time faculty positions at nursing education programs in New York state are vacant, according to a June report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health.

The finding coincides with an increasing number of faculty departures due to retirements, career changes and family commitments. Growing vacancies could reduce the number of students admitted to the programs, which could exacerbate the shortage of registered nurses statewide, researchers said.

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PoliticoPro

There’s a troubling blockage in New York’s nursing pipeline.

As health care organizations continue struggling to recruit and retain registered nurses, the state has poured funding into a “Nursing Emergency Training Fund” to expand program capacity at nursing schools and provide nursing students with scholarships.

But faculty vacancies appear to be limiting the number of new registered nurses New York is able to train, a new report out of SUNY Albany finds.

One in six full-time faculty positions at nursing education programs across the state are vacant, according to the report by the university’s Center for Health Workforce Studies.

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Press Republican

Lack of access to oral health services is recognized as a serious public health problem that results in poor oral health status for many high-needs populations, according to a study conducted by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges.

U.S. consumers were asked about their oral health status and perceived barriers to care. Cost was the most frequently cited reason for not seeking needed oral health services.

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KevinMd

Concern is rising about the shortage of health care workers in the U.S. As Senator Bernie Sanders told the media, “We don’t have enough doctors. We don’t have enough nurses. We don’t have enough psychologists or counselors for addiction. We don’t have enough pharmacists.”

However, dental health has long been treated as a luxury. For instance, some 76.5 million Americans have no dental insurance. Even those with insurance may not have access to oral health care, as evidenced by 70 million Americans who live in oral health professional deserts, with no nearby dental providers and services. In times of economic downturns, states often cut Medicaid dental health benefits for adults. But dental health is not a luxury: It is a basic health need, associated with positive health outcomes. And American oral health could easily be improved effectively and affordably: more dental therapists.

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DrBicuspid

January 6, 2023 — A 22% pay gap exists between male and female dentists in the U.S., but why women continue to get shortchanged cannot be fully explained, according to a large study published on January 5 in the Journal of the American Dental Association.

Race, ethnicity, bilingualism, employment factors — including employee versus owner status — and household characteristics — including spouse or partner occupation — explain only about 27% of the income gap between men and women dentists, the authors wrote.”The income gap between sexes, although reduced over time, is now less explainable than in the past,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Simona Surdu, PhD, co-deputy director of the Oral Health Workforce Research Center at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) in Rensselaer…

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