ADA-Backed Senate Bill Would Expand Clinical Training for Hygienists, Assistants

Posted: June 26, 2026

ADA-Backed Senate Bill Would Expand Clinical Training for Hygienists, Assistants

Edited by Hygienetown staff

A Senate bill endorsed by the American Dental Association would expand community-based clinical training for the oral health workforce, creating new pathways to prepare dental hygienists and dental assistants for careers in the areas that need them most.

The ADA backed the measure, S. 4370, the Primary Care Team Education Centers Act, in a June 23 letter to its sponsor, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. The bill would fund educational and clinical training programs across a range of primary care professions through team-based education centers housed in community health settings. The ADA’s interest centers on the dental team members those centers would help train, including hygienists and assistants.

Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced the bill April 22. It was referred to the committee and has not yet advanced. Nursing, physician assistant, and pharmacist organizations have also endorsed the legislation, which is aimed broadly at strengthening the primary care workforce.

For hygienists and assistants, the proposal would build on a model the ADA has long supported: the federal Teaching Health Center program, which trains health professionals in community-based settings. The association said that approach has produced practitioners more likely to go on to work in rural and high-need communities, where staffing gaps are widest.

Demand is steep. Nine of 10 dentists report difficulty recruiting dental hygienists and assistants, the ADA said, a shortage it described as especially acute in rural and underserved areas. “This legislation is pivotal in mobilizing dental professionals to regions where they are needed most,” the association wrote.

The letter was signed by ADA President Richard J. Rosato and Executive Director Nader A. Nadershahi. The association said it would keep working with Kaine to advance the bill.

Sources:
ADA News, “ADA supports Senate bill aimed at expanding dental team training,” June 23, 2026: adanews.ada.org/.../expanding-dental-team-training
American Dental Association, letter to Sen. Tim Kaine on S. 4370, June 23, 2026 (PDF): ada.org/.../260623_119s4370_pcteca_nosig.pdf
Office of Sen. Tim Kaine, “Kaine Introduces Legislation to Support the Education of Future Primary Care Providers,” April 22, 2026: kaine.senate.gov/.../future-primary-care-providers


ADA-Backed Senate Bill Would Expand Clinical Training for Hygienists, Assistants

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