What is a Midlevel Provider?

ASDA identifies a midlevel provider as an individual, who is not a dentist with four years of post-collegiate education (three years in the case of University of the Pacific School of Dentistry), who may perform irreversible procedures on the public.

Due to barriers to care issues, midlevel provider pilot programs have begun to enter the mainstream world of dental health care.

View a timeline of the midlevel model being implemented throughout the United States (click to enlarge).

ASDA Policy on Dental Providers

ASDA’s policy on dental providers states that only a qualified dentist should perform the following functions, including but not limited to:

1. Diagnosis and treatment planning
2. Prescribing work authorizations
3. Performing irreversible dental procedures
4. Prescribing drugs and/or other medications

What Has ASDA Done?

• In Feb. 2016, students from Massachusetts sent letters to lawmakers encouraging them to oppose midlevel provider legislation. Their efforts contributed to the defeat of the bill that year.

• During the 2017 Advocacy Month, ASDA hosted a panel for three dental professionals: a public health dentist, a dental therapist and a community dental health coordinator. The panelists discussed their place in the dental health care community. Watch the recorded webinar online. 
  
  
• ASDA keeps its members abreast of current legislation and other news about the issue of midlevel providers through ASDA’s monthly advocacy newsletter, the Advocacy Brief.
  
  
• ASDA created a PowerPoint explaining the association's stance on midlevel providers and ASDA’s efforts to address the barriers to care issue. Download the presentation to share this information with your colleagues.

Read what ASDA members are saying about midlevel providers:

• “The Funding Fight for Midlevel Providers,” Contour, November/December 2017
• “ASDA advocacy strengthens fight against midlevel providers in Vermont,” ASDA News, October 2014

Other Resources

• AGD: Midlevel Providers 
• ADEA Alternative Workforce Models Chart
• AAPD, “Analysis and Policy  Recommendations Concerning Midlevel Dental Providers”
• ADA Workforce Statement: "Breaking Down Barriers to Oral Health for All Americans: Repairing the Tattered Safety Net"
• ADA: “About Community Dental Health Coordinators” 
• ADA comment on the Kellogg Foundation Report, "A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists"