American Dental Association Promotes Indian Health Service Funding Options before Congress

CHICAGO, April 19, 2007—The American Dental Association (ADA) looks forward to working with Congress in continuing to reduce oral health disease in Indian country, said Dr. Jerry Long, chairman of the ADA’s Council on Government Affairs. Dr. Long testified yesterday before the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on the interior, which has funding jurisdiction over the Indian Health Services (IHS).

“From the ADA's experience of working with the IHS for over 35 years, we know that adequately funding dental care can make a difference in the lives of the people it serves and be cost effective,” Dr. Long said.

Dr. Long said it was important that Congress help IHS fill the 130 vacancies currently plaguing the agency’s dental program. This can be achieved by using student loan repayment incentives to recruit and retain dentists in the program, he said. An additional $6 million is needed to fully fund the loan repayment program and eliminate the vacancies.

The written testimony Dr. Long submitted contained several more funding requests to strengthen the IHS dental program. These include:

• An additional $1 million to provide training for dentists for expertise especially in pediatric dental care and oral surgery.
• An additional $1 million to sustain and expand the IHS prevention centers. For underserved populations that lack dentists, preventing dental disease is imperative.
• Restoring $1 million in funding for modular dental units that replace aging units in remote locations.
• Providing IHS $2 million each year for the next five years in order to help the agency keep all dental records electronically, as the Bush Administration has proposed.

About the American Dental Association
The not-for-profit ADA is the nation's largest dental association, representing more than 155,000 dentist members. The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public's health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859. The ADA's state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive. The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer dental care products. JADA, a monthly journal, is the ADA's flagship publication and the best-read scientific journal in dentistry. For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site at www.ada.org

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