Dentist: New Mexico families need dentists not therapists

[RedPill1785]

A dentist responded to an early article voicing support for dental therapists. I don't know. He didn't really offer any practical solutions. Increasing medicaid pennies to dimes or quarters won't solve any problems. It's the quality of life.

Dentists don't want to send their kids to crappy schools where they're surrounded by terrible influences and little opportunity to get ahead(thinking AP course offerings, HS level internships, dual degree programs, honors classes etc), Dentists don't want to live in an improvised areas(be it rural or inner city urban). These areas come with higher crime rates and not so great housing. Dentists don't want to leave the nice suburban area without the big fancy golf course, the movie theater, the organic foods store, the mall, the nice soccer camps and amenities.

I think the way to address this concern is to just reduce the cost of dental tools and offices. Profit margins can be maintained for everyone if we do that. It'll be even better if we can make the tools more environmentally friendly.

http://www.abqjournal.com/485211/opinion/nm-families-need-dentists-not-therapists.html

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[krdeuce]

A dentist responded to an early article voicing support for dental therapists. I don't know. He didn't really offer any practical solutions. Increasing medicaid pennies to dimes or quarters won't solve any problems. It's the quality of life.

Dentists don't want to send their kids to crappy schools where they're surrounded by terrible influences and little opportunity to get ahead(thinking AP course offerings, HS level internships, dual degree programs, honors classes etc), Dentists don't want to live in an improvised areas(be it rural or inner city urban). These areas come with higher crime rates and not so great housing. Dentists don't want to leave the nice suburban area without the big fancy golf course, the movie theater, the organic foods store, the mall, the nice soccer camps and amenities.

I think the way to address this concern is to just reduce the cost of dental tools and offices. Profit margins can be maintained for everyone if we do that. It'll be even better if we can make the tools more environmentally friendly.

http://www.abqjournal.com/485211/opinion/nm-families-need-dentists-not-therapists.html

Your solution would really not help as access is the biggest issue, what there needs to be is incentives for dentists to move to these areas

 

[SM555]

Your solution would really not help as access is the biggest issue, what there needs to be is incentives for dentists to move to these areas

It would be hard to make good enough incentives to get people to New Mexico. High crime rates in the large cities and absolutely nothing of interest in the other towns in the eyes of outsiders. You really had to have been raised there to want to go back.

 

[krdeuce]

It would be hard to make good enough incentives to get people to New Mexico. High crime rates in the large cities and absolutely nothing of interest in the other towns in the eyes of outsiders. You really had to have been raised there to want to go back.

It'd be fairly easy actually, just alter the WICHE contract a bit to include having to practice in a county that has a shortage

 

[SM555]

It'd be fairly easy actually, just alter the WICHE contract a bit to include having to practice in a county that has a shortage

They have something like that in place. You either work anywhere in New Mexico for 4 years or a rural area in NM for 2. They should offer to pay full tuition or something if you agree for 6-8 years or so in a rural area.