Collaborative Dental Hygiene Practice in New Mexico and Minnesota

Area of Science:

• Oral Health
• Public Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Collaborative dental hygiene practice is an emerging model to address gaps in oral healthcare access.
• Understanding the characteristics and services of these practitioners is crucial for policy development and program implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the characteristics, services, practice models, and opinions of collaborative dental hygienists in New Mexico and Minnesota.
• To identify similarities and differences between practitioners in the two states.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, comparative study utilizing a self-designed online questionnaire distributed to 73 eligible participants.
• Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Pearson Chi-Square, and Fisher's Exact tests to address research questions and hypotheses.

Main Results:

• Experienced clinicians often transitioned to collaborative practice for increased access to care.
• Practitioners offered diverse services, accepted various insurance, but direct reimbursement was inconsistent.
• New Mexico practitioners predominantly worked in private practices and served Health Provider Shortage Areas, while Minnesota practitioners worked in varied settings with uncertainty about serving these areas.
• No significant differences were found in key variables between practitioners in New Mexico and Minnesota.

Conclusions:

• Collaborative dental hygienists in New Mexico and Minnesota exhibit comparable characteristics, services, and opinions, despite variations in practice models.
• Collaborative dental hygiene practice effectively increases access to care for underserved, unserved, uninsured, and underinsured populations.
• This model provides a viable solution for patients who might otherwise lack essential dental services.