Of all the things that bother me....almost unconditionally and without exception...in the realm of public policy, anything that can be generally put into the policy group of forcefully removing or obstructing choice, evolution or innovation in commerce for the benefit of vested interests (AKA, the euphemism: "Public Interest") deserves to be blacklisted and totally removed from the clutches public policy. This can be in the form of needless licenses, quotas, expensive permits or flat out you-can't-do-that-because-we-said-so types of legal arrangements and constraints.

See this earlier diary on health clinics for another example.

Now, in one of its many manifestations, it's the American Dental Association trying to bully a "potential danger" (read: Competition) with a lawsuit against Ms. Johnson.

Before I go any further, a personal discussion I've had about this VERY ISSUE with my GF and her mother makes this all the more vivid. My GF's mom is a dental hygienist. She knows how to perform all kinds of basic dental care all by herself. She says you'd be amazed at the mark-ups dentists get on many routine services. Almost knowing the answer already, I asked a rhetorical question, which went basically like this:

Well, why don't you start a clinic with your co-worker friend and do dirt-simple routine services that you know how to do and charge a lot less money and still make a good profit??

Ah, she can't. She's not allowed.

Well, Alaska went and solved that problem with a simple and unique training program and well, the ADA just ain't happy about it. And I'm sure it's for YOUR benefit! ( yes, that's a gargantuan snark). IOW, THEIR benefit...and no, there's no snark on that one.

to the Alaska Dental Society and the American Dental Association, the clinic is a place where the rules of dentistry are flouted daily. The dental groups object not because of any evidence that the clinic provides substandard care, but because it is run by Aurora Johnson, who is not a dentist. After two years of training in a program unique to Alaska, Ms. Johnson performs basic dental work like drilling and filling cavities.

Oh, the horror! Somebody stop Aurora before someone loses a mouth!

the A.D.A. and the state’s dental society had filed a lawsuit to block the program that trained people like Ms. Johnson, who are called dental therapists. The groups dropped the suit last summer after a state court judge issued a ruling critical of the dentists. But the A.D.A. continues to oppose allowing therapists to operate anywhere in the lower 49 states. Currently, therapists are allowed to practice only in Alaska, and only on Alaska Natives.

The opposition to therapists follows decades of efforts by state dental boards, which are dominated by dentists, to block hygienists from providing care without being supervised by dentists.

The dental associations say they simply want to be sure that patients do not receive substandard care. But some dentists in public health programs contend that dentists in private practice consider therapists low-cost competition.

No duh. :)

IOW, thanks to the ADA's disingenuous concern for your safety, you will continue to overpay for basic dental services. And you will continue to not even have a choice in the matter. Even if you WANTED to give the dental therapist a try with that filling for a lot less money, you do not have that choice.