The Medieval Guild in Dentistry
United States’ occupational regulations influence the work tasks that may legally be performed by dentists and dental hygienists…Our empirical analysis exploits variation across states and over time in the list of services that may be provided by either type of worker. Our main results suggest that the task-specific occupational regulations increase prices by about 12%…We [also] find that allowing insurers to directly reimburse hygienists for their work increases one year utilization rates by 3-4 percentage points. (Reported by Jason Shafrin)
Dentists are over paid…They earn much more than professors who also have a doctoral degree.
Sounds right..
What services does the professor provide? They do not directly help people and the pay generated is far less
That’s like saying teachers deserve more, when in actuality they are a small part of the system
underutilized and underpayed
Are we saying that someone would be willing to be less for an unlicensed hygenist?
Scarily that is possible, I for one would want nothing to do with that
Imagine walking into your appointment and having 3 options. However, a large group of people could benefit from hygenists not needing to be licensed.
An unlicensed hygienist may exist in an informal economy.
It could, and the benefits may be worth it for the bottom percent of wage earners. If I was on a restricted income and needed teeth cleaning, it may be the best option!
Inner City Dentistry. La’qeisha will be your hygienist today.
“Our main results suggest that the task-specific occupational regulations increase prices by about 12%”
How on earth would a teeth cleaning by a dentist provide only 12% more wages?????
Especially with all the years of school involved, what area did they find this?
Who knows, but now I know what profession to avoid. It may be worth it to be a hygienist instead
Especially when you factor in the years of school and the amount of loans
“Would you be willing to pay 12% more for a dental cleaning from a dentist compared to a dental hygenists? The answer may be no, or may be yes. The individual, rather than the government, however, should be making this decision.”
I wonder how it would play out if people had that choice!
I think the comments reflect a misunderstanding of the paper. It is not licensed versus unlicensed hygienists. (All states require licensing of hygienists.) Nor is it that the dentist rather than the hygienist cleans teeth.
The question studied was the effect of regulations that prevent licensed dental hygienists from practicing independently, as opposed to being employed by dentists.
If the state requires employment, does the dentist extract economic surplus from the hygienist (lowering the hygienist’s income) or from the patient (by adding a layer of cost). The research suggests more of the latter.
However, I also was disappointed in the authors’ conclusion that laws should allow insurers to pay hygienists directly. Dental insurance is, perhaps, the most pointless type of health insurance. There should be no need to insure against regularly scheduled cleanings. Most dental services should be paid directly by patients.
I agree. Yet, when I examined my own dental insurance, the only service that is paid 100% is one teeth cleaning per year. Everything else is reimbursed at 80%.
A few years ago I attended a public policy conference where the Academy of General Dentistry had a booth. I asked them about their main public policy goals. They said they basically have to primary public policy issues. 1) oppose regulations put forth by specialty dentists that would prevent general dentists from performing specialized procedures. And 2) oppose state initiatives that allow lesser trained dental professionals (e.g. dental hygienists and dental techs) from performing dental services without being under the direction of a licensed dentist.
I am sure they were willfully ignorant of the internal contradiction of the two policies, right?
I have seen similar incoherence from physicians, who oppose for-profit investors owning hospitals, but support physician-owned hospitals.