Wyoming Board of Dental Examiners
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.
Practice Guidance
The Wyoming Board of Dental Examiners sporadically receives requests to determine whether or not a specific function or equipment would be permitted for dentists in Wyoming to do or use.
Generally speaking, if the practice is within the scope of practice as defined in the Board's Practice Act and is included in a CODA accredited dental school's curriculum, it would be appropriate practice. The Board recommends licensees consult with their own attorneys to determine if they are appropriately complying with the Board's Practice Act and Rules.
There may be times the Board finds it necessary to make specific determinations about various practice related questions. As they are determined, they are posted in the Wyoming Practice Guidance document.
To request for the Board to consider if a specific practice or treatment falls within the Board's scope of practice, please complete the Scope of Practice Request form linked below. Requests must be accompanied by relevant research findings.
Wyoming Scope of Practice Request Form
Other relevant practice documents include:
The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) has shared recent changes to their "Clinical Practice Guidelines for Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics".