WA Oral Health Workforce in the News

Washington allows undocumented immigrants to apply for professional licenses

Opinion: Here are 3 ways WA can increase access to affordable dental care

New careers program aims to diversify dental profession

New Report: Characteristics of the Current Dental Assistant and Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary Workforces in Washington State

UW rural dentistry program helping to fill vital need across Washington

School of Dentistry to double number of RIDE graduates, meeting demand in small and underserved [...]

Dental Hygienist Survey Now Open! 

Calling all dental hygienists!  We’re conducting a study to better understand the dental hygienist workforce [...]

Dental care is in crisis. But it’s also a moment of opportunity

Many dental professionals left the workforce during the last few years, citing the pandemic as [...]

Skagit Valley College receives $1 Million Grant to enhance Dental Therapy Program

Skagit Valley College recently received a $1 million grant from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) [...]

Health leaders discuss efforts to recruit diverse students to Washington’s healthcare workforce

Supplementing Washington’s healthcare workforce will require creative recruiting efforts that attract youths from a wide [...]

Can Dental Therapists Ease the Dentist Shortage?

Many Americans lack proper access to dental care. Could creating more dental therapists—clinicians who have [...]

New laws aim to bolster Washington’s dental workforce, particularly among hygienists

Lawmakers passed several new dental reform laws during the session, including House Bill 1466, which [...]

Delta Dental Invests $835K in Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s Dental Program

The grant will focus on replacing and upgrading LWTech’s restorative and dental-hygiene teaching clinics and [...]

Meeting the Challenge: WSDA’s Efforts to Close the Workforce Gap

Closing the dental workforce gap is one of WSDA’s top priorities. Learn more about how [...]

Amerigroup Washington Provides $200,000 in Scholarships to Help Tribal Communities Enhance Behavioral and Dental Healthcare Workforce

Amerigroup Washington, one of the state’s coordinators of Medicaid managed healthcare benefits, presented two $100,000 [...]

The pilot “Renton Program” helps high school student with costs of dental assisting program at Renton Technical College.

Renton High School graduates now have a chance to go to the city’s technical college [...]

The Impact – Dental Workforce Legislation

A review of new legislation intended to bolster the dental workforce and increase access to [...]

Dental diversity outreach comes to Spokane, as advocate pushes for inclusion of underrepresented groups in workforce

For the past two years, the registered dental assistant has been running Delta Dental’s Dental [...]

Dental Therapy Bill Signed by WA Governor

More rural and underserved communities will have access to preventive dental care soon, thanks to [...]

$5 million in state funding will help propel PNWU’s new dental school in Yakima

With a $5 million grant from the state’s capital budget and a recently passed law [...]

Number of bills moving in state legislatures on Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact

Over two decades ago, the ADA approved policy supporting license portability. Fast forward to today, [...]

Delta Dental Institute Launches Campaign to Drive Greater Diversity in the Oral Health Workforce

Today, in recognition of World Oral Health Day, the Delta Dental Institute is launching a [...]

UW scores big with efforts to train dentists for rural areas

Bringing health care to rural and underserved populations in Washington and the region at large [...]

Statewide Access to Dental Therapists Promoted by Swinomish Tribal Community

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community continues to promote statewide dental therapist practice to the 2023 [...]

Federal Court Orders CMS to Approve Medicaid Funding for DHATs in Washington

A federal appeals court on 1/19/23 reversed a late Trump Administration decision to deny Medicaid [...]

Webinar: Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Rural, Tribal and Underserved Communities

Oral health among rural, underserved, and Tribal settings has been an ongoing challenge as poor [...]

Op-Ed: Invest in a diverse WA dental workforce to improve oral health equity

It’s time for policymakers to focus on oral health care once again for our state’s [...]

Editorial: County needs a school to train dental hygienists

In Snohomish County, as throughout the state, dental hygienist positions are not being filled — [...]