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Local take on predicted dentist shortage
The dentists out there are already significantly older. The average age of a dentist out in western Kansas is 58 while in general the average age of all of our sample was 50, which is still not young, but when you're looking at an aging dentist population out there and we're having trouble recruiting the young ones out there, you're kind of heading for a dentist shortage out there if you're not experiencing one already.
And Weno says there is already a shortage of dentists serving western Kansas and all rural areas. Dr. Brian Headrick practices in Meade, Kansas, and until recently was practicing in Cimarron as well. Headrick doesn't think that the dentist shortage is a new problem at all.
I don't that there's a less number of dentists today than there was 25 years ago or 30 years ago, but if there were 5, 6, 7, 8 dentists all retiring within a 3 or 4 year period it might be difficult to replace them.
Weno says they found that dentists that work in rural Kansas tended to have grown up there as well, which is true of Dr. Headrick.
Let's see, I opened my office in Meade in 1984 in august 1984 and I'm the only dentist in Meade County, the county's about 5000 people. In 1988 I opened a satellite practice in Gray County and I'm the only dentist in Gray County and that county is about 5000 people.
Headrick closed his Cimarron practice a few weeks ago without trying to sell it, though he says if anyone wants to open a practice in Cimarron he'd be more than happy to help them. He didn't think the practice would sell. And that's another problem noted in the oral assessment, that retiring dentists are having difficulty selling their practices or bringing a partner on to gradually take over the business, which can leave underserved areas even worse off. Now that's he's closed his Cimarron practice, there's not a dentist in Gray County. If he can't sell his Meade practice when he's ready to retire then Meade County could be left without a dentist as well. But he sees patients from outside of his county also, which isn't uncommon in a rural area. Dr. Effie Gaskill has been practicing in Hugoton for 6 and a half years. She has some patients that drive an hour and a half for their dental care.
I think if you divided it out for the population, there are two dentists in Hugoton, that's plenty for our town, but when you consider that we pull from other towns that don't have dentists or when you consider all the people that live in the country and people that drive for an hour to get here, we really could support another dentist, yes. I think Liberal is close and Ulysses, and I think those are both underserved counties, so.
Gaskill says there are some patients that come just looking for emergency care, but they can be difficult to fit in due to patient load. Katherine Weno with the Bureau of Oral Health says when they conducted focus groups in Dodge City and Hays dentists said they were seeing a lot of emergencies that had to be taken care of immediately. Access to preventive care was also a discussion topic, Weno says they want to get in a situation where a lot of these emergencies can be prevented. Right now there's a loan repayment program where dentists that work out in underserved areas can get some of their loans repaid. Weno says they're also encouraging dental hygienists to get extended care permits which allows them to work in more public health areas and serve more underserved populations.
Well, we're doing lots of things where we're looking at doing more targeted recruitment to peak kids that are already in dentist school who come from rural areas and are interested in coming back. Also looking at schools out in western Kansas whether it be high schools or colleges and encouraging them to consider dentistry as a career. We find that the dentists that work out in rural Kansas tended to grow up there so you're more likely to want to come back if you're familiar with your community.
I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2009-09-29)
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GARDEN CITY, KAN.
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Having difficulty attracting health professionals to rural Kansas isn't a new problem, but it is a problem that could be more noticeable in the coming years when it comes to dentists. The Bureau of Oral Health at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment looked at dental shortages in its 2009 Oral Health Workforce Assessment. The conclusion? In 3 to 5 years frontier and rural areas could face a significant shortage due to the number of dentists expected to retire. Katherine Weno, the Director of the Bureau of Oral Health, explains.
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The dentists out there are already significantly older. The average age of a dentist out in western Kansas is 58 while in general the average age of all of our sample was 50, which is still not young, but when you're looking at an aging dentist population out there and we're having trouble recruiting the young ones out there, you're kind of heading for a dentist shortage out there if you're not experiencing one already.
And Weno says there is already a shortage of dentists serving western Kansas and all rural areas. Dr. Brian Headrick practices in Meade, Kansas, and until recently was practicing in Cimarron as well. Headrick doesn't think that the dentist shortage is a new problem at all.
I don't that there's a less number of dentists today than there was 25 years ago or 30 years ago, but if there were 5, 6, 7, 8 dentists all retiring within a 3 or 4 year period it might be difficult to replace them.
Weno says they found that dentists that work in rural Kansas tended to have grown up there as well, which is true of Dr. Headrick.
Let's see, I opened my office in Meade in 1984 in august 1984 and I'm the only dentist in Meade County, the county's about 5000 people. In 1988 I opened a satellite practice in Gray County and I'm the only dentist in Gray County and that county is about 5000 people.
Headrick closed his Cimarron practice a few weeks ago without trying to sell it, though he says if anyone wants to open a practice in Cimarron he'd be more than happy to help them. He didn't think the practice would sell. And that's another problem noted in the oral assessment, that retiring dentists are having difficulty selling their practices or bringing a partner on to gradually take over the business, which can leave underserved areas even worse off. Now that's he's closed his Cimarron practice, there's not a dentist in Gray County. If he can't sell his Meade practice when he's ready to retire then Meade County could be left without a dentist as well. But he sees patients from outside of his county also, which isn't uncommon in a rural area. Dr. Effie Gaskill has been practicing in Hugoton for 6 and a half years. She has some patients that drive an hour and a half for their dental care.
I think if you divided it out for the population, there are two dentists in Hugoton, that's plenty for our town, but when you consider that we pull from other towns that don't have dentists or when you consider all the people that live in the country and people that drive for an hour to get here, we really could support another dentist, yes. I think Liberal is close and Ulysses, and I think those are both underserved counties, so.
Gaskill says there are some patients that come just looking for emergency care, but they can be difficult to fit in due to patient load. Katherine Weno with the Bureau of Oral Health says when they conducted focus groups in Dodge City and Hays dentists said they were seeing a lot of emergencies that had to be taken care of immediately. Access to preventive care was also a discussion topic, Weno says they want to get in a situation where a lot of these emergencies can be prevented. Right now there's a loan repayment program where dentists that work out in underserved areas can get some of their loans repaid. Weno says they're also encouraging dental hygienists to get extended care permits which allows them to work in more public health areas and serve more underserved populations.
Well, we're doing lots of things where we're looking at doing more targeted recruitment to peak kids that are already in dentist school who come from rural areas and are interested in coming back. Also looking at schools out in western Kansas whether it be high schools or colleges and encouraging them to consider dentistry as a career. We find that the dentists that work out in rural Kansas tended to grow up there so you're more likely to want to come back if you're familiar with your community.
I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
