Minnesota Senate finance subcommittee passes ADHP legislation

St. Paul, Minn.鈥擳he legislation creating the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner in Minnesota moved a step further March 13 when a state Senate finance subcommittee approved the bill in a 5鈥? vote.

The subcommittee’s makeup included the sponsor of the measure to establish the ADHP, which is modeled on the American Dental Hygienists’ Association workforce model that drastically expands the scope of dental hygiene duties to include restorations and extractions. The measure’s sponsor severely limited opposition testimony to SF 2895 by the ADA and Minnesota Dental Association at last night’s hearing.

The bill now goes to a hearing before the full committee, which will likely take place next week or following the Easter holiday break.

The American Dental Association is strongly supporting the Minnesota Dental Association in its opposition to SF 2895.

“The ADA is providing significant lobbying and public relations assistance to the Minnesota Dental Association via our State Public Affairs program,” said ADA President Mark Feldman. “These efforts include public relations assistance, increased lobbying capacity and coordination of member communications. ADA representatives will be working with the MDA Board and consultants over the weekend assessing the situation and helping them to develop their next strategic moves.鈥?/p>

Proponents of the bill offered an amendment that had significant modifications over earlier versions, including a requirement that ADHPs work on site with a dentist during their first years of practice while performing extractions.

The MDA’s position was grossly mischaracterized by the sponsors of the legislation during the hearing last night. They claimed that the MDA had agreed to numerous concessions, which is categorically false. The MDA and ADA stated they will continue to oppose this bill as long as it includes unsupervised surgical procedures.

“Rest assured that all is not lost and there are a number of activities being undertaken that cannot be reported on at this time,” added Dr. Feldman.

More updates will be given to members as the Minnesota situation evolves.