University shifts focus to expanding successful dental hygiene program with federal support.
Vermont State University has officially scrapped plans to launch a dental therapy program after nearly a decade of development and more than $2 million invested. Instead, university leaders say they will now focus on growing the school’s existing dental hygiene program.
The announcement came Monday in a statement from Elizabeth Mauch, chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges system.
“After nearly a decade of diligent effort, it has become clear that the dental therapy program is not a viable path forward to address our state’s acute and pressing oral health workforce challenges,” Mauch said.
She emphasized that the university would invest in “areas where we can have the greatest impact,” citing the dental hygiene program as a proven success. Vermont State University operates that program and runs an on-campus dental clinic in Williston.
Dental therapists, who perform more procedures than dental hygienists but are not fully licensed dentists, were expected to help ease Vermont’s oral health care shortages. In 2016, the state legislature authorized the creation of the dental therapy profession — the first such initiative in the Northeast — and allocated $400,000 to support the new program’s development.
However, the rollout was slow and plagued by obstacles. By 2023, State Auditor Doug Hoffer had launched a review of the program’s delayed progress, raising questions about its feasibility and cost-effectiveness.
A feasibility report dated June 2024 highlighted several key challenges. The university was unable to offer competitive salaries to attract instructors away from clinical practice. Even if it could, the projected per-student cost — about $96,000 — made the program unsustainable. In addition, the financial stress facing the Vermont State Colleges system, combined with disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, further stalled progress.
The Vermont State Dental Society, which has long opposed licensing dental therapists, argued the new profession could lower care standards. Its president, Dr. Jeff Blasius, welcomed the university’s decision.
“We’re glad the state college system is committed to expanding its dental hygiene program and stand ready to assist in that effort any way we can,” Blasius said in a statement.
While the total cost of developing the now-canceled program reached $2.3 million, university officials noted that $1.5 million of that amount was used for equipment, supplies, and facility improvements. Those assets will now support the expansion of the dental hygiene program.
With the help of over $6 million in newly secured federal funding, the university plans to double the dental hygiene program’s enrollment from 24 to 48 students by the fall of 2027.
Meanwhile, Vermont State Colleges must also address ongoing financial challenges. According to the feasibility report, the system needs to cut $5 million in structural costs in the current fiscal year, which began July 1, to balance its budget.
Despite the setback, Mauch says the shift represents a strategic pivot toward strengthening a successful program that can immediately address the state’s workforce shortages in oral health care.