Dental Therapy

This bill changes part of the Florida Statutes so that Medicaid can pay for dental care that happens in a mobile unit, like a truck, that is run by or works with a health access program or a similar program

• Florida Statutes: A set of laws that people in Florida have to follow.

• Medicaid: A government program that helps people who don’t make a lot of money pay for medical care.

• Health Access Program: A program to make it easier for people to get the healthcare they need.

This bill:

• Defines important words like “dental therapist” and “dental therapy”.

  • Dental therapy: A new job where mid-level dental care professionals work while being supervised by a dentist to care for people’s teeth to stop problems and give regular check ups.

• Makes the Board of Dentistry, a group of experienced dentists who make decisions, create another group focusing specifically on dental therapy.

• Changes what it means to do dentistry full time in Florida to include full-time teachers at certain dental therapy schools.

• Makes the Department of Health to let anyone who fails the dental therapy test to take the test again

  • They only have to retake the part that they failed

  • Department of Health: The state office in charge of protecting and improving the health of people in Florida.

• Makes a new rule that everyone with a license to do dental therapy has to complete a certain number of hours of continuing education.

  • The Board of Dentistry can make exceptions to this rule when they want to.

• Makes dental therapists put up their certification, a piece of paper that says they can do their job, so everyone can see.

• Clarifies that the dentist is responsible for what happens to the patient regardless of what the dental therapist does.

• Says what dental therapists do in Florida specifically, that may be different in other states.

• Makes the dentist in charge decide the number of hours of practice that a dental therapist must do before giving certain treatments.

• Says an agreement must be signed between the dentist and the dental therapist that makes it clear what the dental therapist can and can’t do.

• Changes some of the punishments for breaking these rules.

• Makes the department of health, with the Board of Dentistry and the Agency for Health Care Administration, send write-ups to the elected leaders in Florida.

  • Agency for Healthcare Administration: The state office that manages Florida Medicaid and makes sure health care is strong. ​

If this bill passes, these changes will start on July 1, 2025.