Dawson City dentist wants Yukon to revive dental therapist program

A dentist in Dawson Citysays the territorial government should find a way to revive a declining program for dental therapists, after seeinga negative impact on children's dental healthin rural Yukon.

Helmet Schoenerhasbeen a northern dentist for almost 40 years and recalls a time when it wasn't unusual to see teenagers with dentures in Yukon.

Schoener says that all changed when dental therapists from rural communities were trained to do the basics, like cleanings and fillings. Dentistswould only have to advise the therapistson what needed to be done.

"The dental therapist did the work, the standard work. If there was anything very complicated it would be referred to a dentist,"Schoener says.

He says the school in Saskatchewan that trained the therapists shut down four years ago and the number of therapists in Yukon has dwindled to one.

He proposed setting up a similar school at Yukon College but says he did not get support from government.

Schoenersayshe's beginning to see the negative impact on students' dental health.

"I just visited a community in the north and I examined 31 children and of those 31 only three had no decay, so it's going downhill."