Oral Health Program: Dental Workforce

• Mobile Dentistry in Wisconsin, DHS training, .5 CE: At the conclusion of the webinar, participants will be able to define mobile dentistry per DE 10, identify who must register for a mobile license in Wisconsin and learn how to register, and understand the requirements and rules governing mobile dentistry in Wisconsin.
• Mobile Dentistry registration: requirements and application for a Wisconsin Mobile Dentistry Program registration.

Wisconsin professional license look-up and renewal

Visit DSPS to look-up Wisconsin professional license or renew professional license through LicensE.

Dental radiography

• X-Ray Facility Registrations, Surveys, and Inspections: explains annual registration of all x-ray devices, as required under Wis. Stat. §§ 254.31–254.45.
• X-Ray Regulatory Guide for Dental Facilities, P-01639 (Word): All registrants must have a radiation safety program and a written radiation safety policy. Sample radiation safety policy for dental facilities meets minimum standards under Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 157.

Department of Safety and Professional Services

• Dental Administration Code—Wis. Admin. Code on the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, dental therapy, and expanded function dental auxiliary.
• Dental hygienist license—requirements and application for a Wisconsin Dental Hygienist license.
• Dentist license—requirements and application for a Wisconsin Dentist license.
• Dental therapist license — requirements and application for a Wisconsin Dental Therapist license.
• Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary—requirements and application for a Wisconsin Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary certificate.
• File a complaint—methods, process and alternatives to filing a complaint against a professional license.
• License renewal—take renewal survey and renew professional license through LicensE.
• Mobile dentistry—requirements and application for a Wisconsin Mobile Dentistry Program registration.

Dental hygienist career opportunities

The OHP partnered with dental hygienists on a webinar series offering a glimpse into career opportunities available to licensed dental hygienists in Wisconsin. Each hygienist shares their unique story. You will know what inspires them, understand their passion for their work and the patients they serve, and learn helpful information for anyone interested in a career in similar practice settings.

• Dental Hygiene in Wisconsin: is the best place to start if you are exploring dental career options or have a dental hygiene license from another state and want to practice in Wisconsin. Learn about education, Wisconsin licensing, scope of practice, supervision, compensation and more.
• Dental Hygiene in Wisconsin: Local Health Department: Provides an opportunity to understand public health hygienists and their varying roles. Public health hygienists may interact with patients in a school, senior center, or other community location. They help patients get dental care and may even learn expanded skills like teaching CPR, planning for emergencies, and responding to the community’s unique needs.
• Hygienists in Medical Dental Integration: Reminds us that oral health is part of overall health. Not all patients see a dentist first. What happens when patients arrive for a medical visit with dental problems? Hygienists in medical settings often educate pregnant moms, see children during well child visits, and consult with urgent care doctors on dental-related concerns. Having a dental hygienist in the medical office can streamline care, help reduce emergency department visits related to tooth or mouth pain, and impact overall health outcomes.
• Oh, Get a Job, Already! What is dental hygiene?: Direct access dental hygienist, JenJen Reed, shares how mentors helped spark and encourage her dream career. As a first-generation Asian American she faced many barriers. By allowing her passion to lead, she became the first of her generation to start her own hygiene business serving medically compromised adults in Wisconsin nursing homes.
• Wi RDH: School-Based Setting: Teaches the value of dental hygienists in school-based settings. Many children have trouble accessing dental care but, bringing dental services into schools can help. Since all programs differ, networking with others in your community is key to strengthening each one and helping more children. Learn tips for getting started, realistic timelines, and best practices. You will also learn to understand unique considerations for business ownership.
• Wisconsin Dental Hygienist in a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center: Offers insight into an amazing life and career journey as it overlaps to cross oceans, removes language and cultural barriers, and finds solid footing as part of a comprehensive team addressing a variety of healthcare needs for patients. Learn that opportunities for dental hygienists seem endless. They can work in a dental office, mobile dentistry program, be a language translator or even help a single mom receive life-saving cancer treatment. Sometimes, it is all part of an overlapping journey that fills one’s heart to overflowing.
• Expanded Practice Setting for Dental Hygienists, Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin (CHAW): Learn how dental hygienists can work in non-traditional settings to bring dental care to more locations and people statewide.
• Highlighting Medical Dental Integration CHAW: Learn about the innovative integration of dental hygienists into the primary care team at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in Milwaukee.

Antibiotics Before Dental Procedures, P-01966 (PDF) DHS publication: Information for patients about taking Antibiotics Before Dental Procedures.

Other resources

• Antimicrobial Stewardship: Dental: The scope of antibiotic prescribing and use in the dental setting makes it an ongoing area of focus for antibiotic use tracking and evidence-based prescribing reduction. Visit this page to find guidance, resources, and   printable materials for dental professionals.
• Antibiotic Stewardship for Oral Health Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP): Effort to improve antibiotic prescribing and use to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harms caused by unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antibiotic resistance. Learn more through series of antibiotic stewardship resources for dental prescribers, dental team members, policymakers, and information for patients.
• Oral Health Antibiotic Toolkit, P-03109 (PDF): Information to make informed and evidence-based antibiotic prescribing decisions and effectively communicate them with patients and medical team members.
• Trends in Dental Antibiotic Prescribing in Wisconsin, 2018–2021, P-03383a (PDF): Wisconsin dental antibiotic prescribing trends and data from DHS.

Wisconsin DHS dental health care professionals follow CDC Infection Prevention and Control in Dental Settings evidence-based guidelines

• Access infection prevention and control resources and learn about free, non-regulatory support offered by the DHS Healthcare-Associated Infections Prevention Program on the Infection Prevention in Oral Health Settings webpage.
• CDC offers best practices for dental infection prevention and control in all dental settings including adjustments initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Infection Control in Dental Settings, P-01808 (PDF)

Checklist serves as a reminder of the CDC Infection Prevention Guidelines and Recommendations for Dental Settings, and provides links to the guidelines and CDC DentalCheck App.

Other resources

• Boil Water Advisory Toolkit-OSAP Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP): Safe drinking water in dental offices toolkit with regulations and guidelines, best practices, instructional and patient resources.
• Basic Expectations for Safe Care Modules CDC training: 10 modules can be used to educate and train infection prevention coordinators, educators, consultants, and other dental health care personnel on seven elements of standard precautions, dental unit water quality, and program evaluation.
• Foundations: Building the Safest Dental Visit CDC training - three CE credits: Web-based, interactive, self-paced training provides an overview of the basic expectations for safe care—the principles of infection prevention and control that form the basis for CDC recommendations for dental healthcare settings. Training videos, explain the fundamentals of infection prevention and control, donning and doffing personal protective equipment, and instrument reprocessing. Follow the OHP's instructions (PDF) to learn how to enroll in the Foundations training and help the OHP track completion.

Learn how you can become a dental assistant through an apprenticeship program.

• Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship, Department of Workforce Development (DWD): One or two-year “earn while you learn” program for high school juniors and seniors consisting of work and related classroom instruction in dental assisting.
• Dental Assistant Youth Apprentice Flyer (PDF), DWD: Flyer showing students why they should become a dental assistant youth apprentice and how employers can expand their workforce through the youth apprenticeship program.
• Dental Assistant Youth Apprenticeship Student Video: Learn more about being a dental assistant youth apprentice from students.
• Dental Youth Apprenticeship Testimonial: Learn more about becoming a dental youth apprenticeship employer and how it benefits employers and students.

The OHP has created a learning experience for those interested in dental careers! Connection opportunities is a self-paced program that connects students with dental profession students or dental professionals.

There are four different levels of connections including meet a dental profession student, meet a dental professional, shadow a dental professional, and employment opportunities.

• Connection Opportunities Student Guide, available in English, Spanish, and Hmong, and Professionals Guide, P-03585: The Student Guide explains how students can sign up to connect with a dental profession student or dental professional and the Professional Guide explains how dental profession students and dental professionals can connect with a student interested in oral health careers.
• Connection Opportunities Form: Interested students, dental professionals, and dental profession students can complete this online form to participate in Connection Opportunities.
• Connection Opportunities Professionals Poster, P-03641 (PDF): Poster promoting Connection Opportunities to professionals.
• Connection Opportunities Student Poster, P-03641A (PDF): Poster promoting Connection Opportunities to students.

Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) has created a one-day workshop held in seven locations around Wisconsin called Future Oral Health Workforce Day (FOHWD).

At FOHWD, high school students learn about dental health professions through hands-on activities and additional opportunities for furthering their interest in a dental career.

Learn more about FOHWD and how you can get involved!