When the Board of Dental Examiners discusses resources that may be of benefit to licensees, those are shared here.

Wyoming Professional Assistance Program

• The Wyoming Professional Assistance Program (WPAP) provides a confidential resource to professionals (dentists and dental hygienists) with substance use or mental/behavioral health conditions. Go to https://wpapro.org/  to learn more.

• WPAP also offers a new service to provide Dentists/Dental Hygienists experiencing burnout, stress, depression or other mental health concerns a way to connect anonymously to support and services. To get confidential feedback and support from a Licensed WPAP Clinician, please take a few minutes to visit the website at the bottom of this section and complete the brief online Self-Check Questionnaire. Once completed, an WPAP Clinician will review your Questionnaire and provide you with a personalized response. The response will include information, recommendations and options for next steps for connecting to support and resources, including options for mental health counseling.  Using this service is completely voluntary and anonymous. You will not have to share who you are unless you want to. 

The Self-Check Questionnaire:

• Is entirely anonymous, confidential and completely voluntary

• Is a safe and easy way to find out if burnout, stress, anxiety or depression may be affecting you 

• Is a free service from WPAP

There are 3 easy steps:

• Take and submit a brief (<10 min) Questionnaire

• A WPAP Clinician will post a personal response to you on the secure website with information, recommendations and options for next steps 

• You decide what's next. You'll have the option of communicating with the EAP Clinician through this website or on the phone to learn more about support offerings, or you can decide to do nothing further at this time.

Dentists: wpap.connectsyou.org 

Hygienists: wpap.connectsyou.org 

If you have any questions about this service, please contact Candice Cochran, Executive Director, WPAP at (307)472-1222 ext 1 or candicec@wpapro.org.

Opioid Crisis

• The Wyoming Legislature has created the 2018 Opioid Addiction Task Force. Licensees are encouraged to follow along with the activities and proposed legislation of this group.

• The Board recommends licensees read the Pennsylvania Guidelines on the Use of Opioids in Dental Practice.

Practice Guidance

• As the Board of Dental Examiners clarifies scope of practice questions at Board meetings, those clarifications are provided here for the convenience of our licensees. Practice Guidance Document

• The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) has shared recent changes to their "Clinical Practice Guidelines for Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics".