Oregon Denturism Moves Forward

Greetings to OSDA members and friends. It continues to be a busy time for OSDA with our most recent legislative efforts and other programs in support of Oregon denturists. Thus, we want to bring our members and friends up-to-date on what has been happening in Oregon's denturist community.

The Growth of Denturism in Oregon

It has been a pleasure to watch the field of denturism come into its own in Oregon. In 2002 Oregon denturists celebrated one of the most significant victories in the history of the profession as Ballot Measure 24, the Oregon Consumer Denture Care Act, passed by a margin of 76% to 24%.

The message came across loud and clear; the public believes that Oregon denturists are fully trained and qualified to design, create and fit patients with partial dentures and should be allowed to help thousands of seniors and low-income people who otherwise could not afford this important dental appliance gain access to partial dentures.

As debate in the Oregon legislature rages over the issue of dental business ownership, we have Measure 24, which gives denturists and dentists the ability to enter into mutually beneficial business associations, guaranteeing that denturists can provide denture patients with quick and easy access to all of the .dental services they need.

The base for the successful Yes on Measure 24 campaign was achieved in 2001 with the historic victory in the Oregon Court of Appeals, a unanimous decision to overturn the Oregon State Board of Dentistry's attempt to cut the scope of practice of denturists. The denturists' right to fabricate over-dentures and implant dentures was overwhelmingly confirmed.

It has taken years of hard work to achieve our current level of success. There were many public policy victories that served as the stepping stones to achieving our ultimate goals, including: the formation of the policy-making State Board of Denture Technology; upgrade of denturists from a certification to a licensure program; expansion of coverage and reimbursement for denturist services in the Oregon Health Plan; and successfully fighting endless attempts by the Oregon Dental Association (ODA) and the State Dental Board to limit the scope of practice of denturists.

Membership

The Association has conducted an active membership campaign to encourage denturists and associated individuals to join OSDA. Thus far, the response has been solid.

Currently, more than 40 denturists have committed to the new membership structure of $50 a month or $600 annually (essentially one denture a year), platinum membership at $100 a month or $1,200 annually, and an associate membership at $100 for non-denturists and retirees and $500 for vendors annually. We hope to enroll many more Oregon denturists over the next few months. Dues can be submitted to the OSDA at P.O. Box 40007, Portland, Or. 97240. Any questions can be directed to Jim Davis at 503 432-7954.

2003 Legislative Overview

This has been an active legislative session, with the usual head-butting with ODA. The primary issues we are dealing with this session are dental ownership and term limits within the Board of Denture Technology.

Board of Denture Technology/Term Limits

HB 2996 was submitted by OSDA and United Seniors of Oregon to allow denturists and consumer representatives to serve more than two terms (although not concurrently after 2 terms) on the state Board of Denture Technology. Currently, Board members are only allowed to serve 2 terms lifetime. This requirement dates back 23 years to the old Health Division's Denturist Advisory Council. With only 110 active denturists in the state, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find denturists to serve. There are currently denturists who are ready and willing to serve but can't be appointed because of a previous tenure, sometimes dating back a decade or more. We are happy to report that HB 2996 has unanimously passed both the House and Senate and is awaiting the signature of the Governor. We had no problem getting this bill through either the House Health and Human Services Committee or the Senate Human Resources Committee, traditional battlegrounds for Oregon denturists. Special thanks for the good advocacy work of Joe Coss, State Board Chair.

Dental Clinic Ownership

Legislation on dental clinic ownership was submitted in both chambers as the result of a state task force that was developed to examine the issue. Neither denturists nor consumers were asked to participate in the Task Force; and from what we understand, denturists were not on anyone's radar screen except ODA. HB 2964 became the result of the majority opinion of the Task Force and SB 390 became ODA's rebel attempt representing their minority opinion. HB 2964 originally allowed for dentists to have 51% required ownership, while SB 390 mirrored ODA opinion of 100% ownership by dentists. OSDA recruited senior groups, United Seniors and Gray Panthers, and alternately opposed both pieces of legislation while attempting on both the House and Senate sides to amend the legislation to exempt denturists in accordance with Measure 24. All of our attempts were defeated as this unstoppable train continued to roll down the tracks with some interesting fireworks between the participants. HB 2964 ended up being defeated badly on the House Floor with an amended 75% ownership clause. ODA opposed HB 2964, saying it was unnecessary because support should be given to SB 390, which has a 100% ownership clause. We continue to be involved in the issue in opposition to SB 390, but at this point, it is almost a certainty that SB 390 will pass. Everyone admits that only the ODA had ulterior motive concerning denturists. The Task Force, which also involved the health plans, OHSU School of Dentistry, and others was interested in amending current statutes to allow for greater participation than the current 100% dentist control (minus Measure 24, of course). It was only the ODA that wanted complete dentist control. Everyone, however, including ODA, believes that denturists are in a separate statute and that Measure 24 language around denturists' involvement in ownership of dental businesses is separate. But still creates unanswered questions that may have to be settled in court if we are challenged. Throughout this process, we have stressed that the dental and denturist professions are highly interrelated. It only makes sense to create for patients a seamless, unconstrained service environment. Such business alliances in Washington have proven to be mutually beneficial and improve service quality and patient satisfaction. There certainly is no reason to limit efforts that create more cooperation within the dental community and better service for consumers.

Public Relations Work

We have been working hard on creating a strong public relations and communications campaign in OSDA. We are resurrecting the OSDA newsletter on a tri-yearly basis and expanding its coverage and distribution. We have started initial work on the OSDA website which will provide a variety of consumer-related information and have the capability of referring viewers to member denturists in their area. Next we will develop drafts of written informational materials that could inform consumers and healthcare professionals about denturism.

Conferences

The 2003 Spring Conference in Newport was a great success with 50 participants, our 2nd straight conference with 50+. The curriculum was well-received and included: Effective Post-Op Denture Adjustments (Dr. Ken Kais, Instructor, Bates Technical College), Partial Denture Framework Design and Manufacture (Gary Grace, CDT, Vericast NW), HIPAA and Your Practice (Ted Falk, JD, Ph.D.), The Eclipse Denture Processing System (Joel Cash, Representative, Dentsply/Trubyte). The 2003 Fall Conference will be held at the Valley River Inn in Eugene . By-Laws The OSDA Board of Directors is looking to review the OSDA By-Laws, having been last amended in 1992.