As someone who was born and raised right here in Cuba and currently studying to become a dental hygienist at St. Louis Community College, I want to personally thank Representative John Hewkin for looking out for the families he represents.
I am excited to graduate in 2027 and will get to work full time right away as dental hygienist. I know I will get hired before I even graduate because Missouri has such a shortage of dental care providers. A lot of politicians talk a good game, but Representative Hewkin isn’t a typical politician. He cares about his community and the people he represents.
I am thankful for Representative Hewkin and his House Bill 1847 the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. Missouri’s current system doesn't work. When a dental office needs temporary coverage during a family emergency, they can’t bring in a qualified dentist or dental hygienist from another state if they haven’t practiced for five consecutive years. This shuts out many young providers. Our rural communities desperately need access to dental care, but our outdated reciprocity laws make it nearly impossible for out-of-state dental care providers to help, even temporarily.
As a soon to be practicing dental hygienist in Missouri, I felt compelled to respond to Paul Hamby's commentary ("Unintended consequences of HB1847," Feb. 18), which misrepresents what this Compact actually does.
I read the bill carefully before deciding to support it. The Compact does not allow any outside entity to control how I practice dental hygiene in Missouri. The Missouri Dental Board, which has regulated my profession for years, keeps complete authority over practice standards, patient care, and office operations.
In addition, in order to participate in the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact sponsored by Representative Hewkin, there are strict requirements:
• a clean license from another state;
• graduation from an accredited dental or dental hygiene program;
• passage of a didactic national board exam;
• passage of a clinical assessment;
• passage of Missouri’s jurisprudence law (ethics and what we can do here), and;
• an FBI check.
When I graduate, I will have to do all of these things as well for my Missouri dental hygiene license.
Mr. Hamby's claim that Missouri can't exit is simply wrong. The bill explicitly allows for withdrawal from the Compact. His assertion about lawsuits preventing states from leaving has no factual basis.
The Nursing Compact has operated successfully in 41 states for 25 years using this same structure. Dentistry is simply catching up to what other healthcare professions figured out decades ago.
Missouri dentists and dental hygienists deserve practice flexibility, and rural Missourians deserve access to care. This Compact provides both while maintaining the high standards our state board has always enforced. It will significantly improve the access, cost and efficiency by which a new to Missouri dentist or dental hygienist can start seeing patients.
Thank you, Representative Hewkin, for trying to do something that will benefit those that you serve!
Kenna Noltkamper
Cuba
