First Nation Chiefs say new training program should help improve oral health equity
A new dental therapy program is expected to have a significant impact in meeting the needs of the dental workforce and patients’ access to care on First Nations in the province.
The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA), University of Saskatchewan, and Saskatchewan Polytechnic partnered to establish the only Dental Therapy Training program in Canada. The course will be offered at U of S campuses in Prince Albert, La Ronge, and at the Sask Polytech campus in Regina. NITHA will contribute a cultural competency component to the curriculum development that will help ensure graduates are suited to work in Indigenous communities.
“There is a great need for those dental therapists to do that kind of work with children in our schools. There is also a great opportunity for our young people to take this course as it’s the only kind of its school in Canada,” said Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte.
A press release issued by NITHA said oral health services have suffered since the closure of the National School of Dental Therapy in 2011, particularly those in rural and remote locations where the dental therapy workforce has aged. It said 40 per cent of the workforce is over 55 and only five percent are under the age of 35.