Clark, get more info before you confuse people!! You can not take out a filling with a laser---it is for soft tissue and virgin cavities. Works great for that. I did poll some of my patients and they suggested they were not willing to pay extra for it, even to not have anesthesia. I use the Wand for anesthesia--- very thin, no metal syringe, slow technique and my patients do well. I can isolate one tooth to numb versus the whole arch. I have been a hygienist 20 years and then a dentist 22 years. I have watched work done for years by others and they do it myself. The answer is not in lessor trained people to do the work----even the young dentists just graduating after 4 years do not have enough experience to make diagnosis and treatment decisisons. It takes a few more years to become competent. I also learned when going back to dental school , that a 2 year trained experienced hygienist , as I was , still needed more knowledge and training to become compentent, even in the perio area, where I was experienced!! Amazed me! A 2 year drill and fill training does not teach diagnosis and judgement----and behavior management of young children----who would be the ones treated by a short program---leading to more dental trauma for later adults to deal with. That is one of the reasons they go untreated now. Ask the ins companies---only 50 % of the ones with full coverage even bother to come in for ANYTHING! It is fear, as well as money. Go beyond the surface if you are going to advocate something, Clark.

I enjoy listening to Clark however he has absolutely no concept of the training required to competently perform these aforementioned dental services. I would never want a "dental tech" with a two year training to provide any dental treatment on me. Alaska needs dentists who are willing to work in underserved rural areas.