Protective Restorations By Dental Hygienists |
Yesterday House Bill 15-1309, Interim Therapeutic Restoration Bill, had its first hearing at the Health, Insurance, & Environment Committee.
The stakeholders providing testimony in support of the Bill included: Jeff Kahl, a pediatric dentist representing the Colorado Dental Association, Deb Astroth, a dental hygienist representing the Colorado Dental Hygiene Association, Linda Reiner, representing SMILES Dental Project and Caring for Colorado Foundation, Deborah Foote, representing Oral Health Colorado (our state coalition) and Bill Heller, representring the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.
Several stakeholders signed on to support the Bill including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Delta Dental of Colorado, the Colorado Community Health Network, and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.
Testimony was brief and addressed the broad stakeholder process that has gone into bringing a virtual dental home to Colorado, and the role interim therapeutic restorations will play in this model.
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Representative Mitsch Bush thanked the stakeholders for their work on oral health access, noting that in her district there is a section of Southern Routt County with no access to a dentist, which is being served by a dental hygienist.
Representative Ginal asked the committee to support the Bill and shared that her mother was a dental hygienist, who worked alongside her brother (Rep Ginal’s Uncle) who was a dentist. Representative Ginal said she is proud to bring forth another bill that is going to improve oral health in Colorado.
The Bill passed the Committee with a unanimous vote, and is moving on to the House Finance Committee!
Next week: What is ITR?
