State Issues
The ADA Department of State Government Affairs (DSGA) offers resources to help state and local dental societies advance their respective policy agendas.
- Subscribe to the State Legislative Report (Members Only)
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact DSGA staff at 312.440.2525 or govtpol@ada.org.
Prepared by: Division of Government and Public Affairs
Last Updated: August 23, 2018
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Principles for Model State Legislation
The Council on Dental Benefit Programs (CDBP) offers Principles for Model Legislation for state dental societies to use in their legislative efforts.
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact CDBP at 312.440.2525 or dentalbenefits@ada.org.
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Licensure
Advances in dental research, education, and training make dentistry an ever evolving profession—and will naturally require adjustments to the core competencies and associated licensure requirements for practicing dentists. Licensure issues that commonly arise at the state level include, among others:
- Basic competency requirements.
- Continuing education requirements.
- Authority of state dental boards.
- State dental board examination standards and procedures.
- Guidelines for licensure by examination.
- Guidelines for licensure by credentials.
- Licensing dental specialties.
- Licensing volunteer dental professionals.
- Licensing internationally trained dentists.
- Licensure mobility across jurisdictions.
The ADA Department of State Government Affairs (DSGA) offers resources to help state and local dental societies benefit from the best practices and lessons learned in other states and municipalities.
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact the DSGA at 312.440.2525 or govtpol@ada.org.
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Non-Covered Services
Third party coverage and payment issues that commonly arise at the state level include, among others:
- Non-Covered Services—Prohibiting dental insurers from interfering when a contract dentist agrees to furnish a non-plan service privately to a patient who knows the service not covered by his or her plan (e.g., capping fees for a non-covered cosmetic procedure, etc.).
- Medically-Associated Dental Care—Requiring medical insurers to cover (and act as the primary payer for) dental treatment associated with a diagnosed medical disease or condition.
- Coordination of Medical/Dental Benefits—Requiring medical and dental insurers to coordinate primary dental and secondary medical benefits (or vice versa) in a way that is seamless for both the patient and treating dentist.
- Joint Disorders—Encouraging medical and dental insurers both to offer coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular (TMD) joint disorders and craniomandibular (CMD) disorders.
The ADA Department of State Government Affairs (DSGA) offers resources to help state and local dental societies benefit from the best practices and lessons learned in other states and municipalities.
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact the DSGA at 312.440.2525 or govtpol@ada.org.
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Practice Ownership
Practice ownership and operation issues that commonly arise at the state level include, among others:
- Reprisals against dentist employees for exercising independent professional judgment or reporting suspected illegal behavior.
- The extent to which a dentist may own or operate his or her practice if and when an impairment should cause a loss of licensure.
- The extent to which a deceased or incapacitated dentist's surviving spouse, heir(s), or legal representative(s) can maintain ownership of a dental practice during its transition to a new owner.
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact the DSGA at 312.440.2525 or govtpol@ada.org.
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Scope of Practice
Advances in dental research, education, and training make dentistry an ever evolving profession—and will naturally add to the complexity and scope of procedures dentists perform. For that reason, the ADA encourages states to adopt the following as their legal definition of dentistry:
Dentistry is the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment (nonsurgical, surgical or related procedures) of diseases, disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and/or the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body; provided by a dentist, within the scope of his/her education, training and experience, in accordance with the ethics of the profession and applicable law.
With assurance that the dental team is led by a licensed dentist, the nation’s capacity to provide modern, safe, and effective dental care will continue to advance.
For additional information or to request assistance, please contact the DSGA at 312.440.2525 or govtpol@ada.org.