Dental leaders point to the outdated rulebook holding back access to care
By Cameron Cortigiano
Originally at beckersdental.com
Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.
Why it matters for dental
State-level practice acts and credentialing rules are the main barrier to expanding patient access and revenue, not clinician shortages; DSOs, owners, and Medicaid-heavy practices should track legislative efforts to modernize these rules or risk being locked out of new care-delivery models.
Key points
- Industry executives argue that licensure portability and scope-of-practice limits prevent dentists and hygienists from practicing where demand is highest.
- Credentialing delays and duplicative state requirements add months to onboarding new providers, directly slowing clinic expansion and revenue ramp-up.
- Modernizing these rules could allow teledentistry, hygienist-led preventive programs, and DSO multi-state operations to scale faster.
- States that loosen restrictions may see an influx of providers and competitive pressure on practices in more restrictive jurisdictions.
Who should care
Read the original on Becker's Dental + DSO Review
Full reporting and any paywall content live on beckersdental.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.
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