Native Voice One - The Native American Radio Network

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signs into law a bill that makes his the fourth state in the nation to allow dental therapists to provide dental care. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium began dental health therapy in 2004. (Photo from Vermont Public Interest Research Group or VPIRG.) Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called states “the laboratories of democracy.” The idea was that experiments in governing would take place far from Washington and eventually become national policy. Well, it that’s true, then tribes, and intertribal organizations, might be democracy’s first test labs. This is Trahant Reports. If you are looking for innovation, efficiency, and ideas that should be borrowed by state governments, then explore some of the successes found in the Indian health system. Last week Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill that licenses dental therapy in Vermont. Therapists are midlevel providers who provide dental procedures such as fillings and simple extractions. Great idea. O