Dominic Comerate

Advanced Practice Dental Therapist

Mr. Dominic Comerate is an Advanced Practice Dental Therapist in Fairbanks, AK with special training and skill in oral procedures that dental therapists are unqualified to perform. As an Advanced Practice Dental Therapist, Dominic Comerate performs treatments under the supervision of a licensed dentist through a collaborative agreement for low-income, uninsured, and underserved patients. Advanced Practice Dental Therapy is licensed only in Minnesota and plays a key role in increasing access to dental care and preventing emergency room visits for dental issues. Significant diseases and conditions treated by Advanced Practice Dental Therapists include all Dental Therapist services plus oral evaluation and assessment, treatment plan formulation, non–surgical extraction of certain diseased teeth, and other dental maintenance. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Advanced Practice Dental Therapists include creating treatment plans, non-surgically extracting teeth, and providing medications.

An Advanced Practice Dental Therapist is:
(1) A dental therapist who has completed additional training beyond basic dental therapy education and provides dental services in accordance with state advanced practice dental therapist laws or statutes; or
(2) A dental hygienist with a graduate degree in advanced dental therapy prepared for independent and interdependent decision making and direct accountability for clinical judgment across the dental health care continuum.
The individual has been authorized by the relevant state board or a tribal entity to provide services under the remote supervision of a dentist. The functions of the advanced practice dental therapist vary based on the needs of the dentist, the educational preparation of the advanced practice dental therapist and state dental practice acts and regulations.

Community Health Worker

Community health workers (CHW) are lay members of communities who work either for pay or as volunteers in association with the local health care system in both urban and rural environments and usually share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status and life experiences with the community members they serve. They have been identified by many titles such as community health advisors, lay health advocates, "promotores(as), outreach educators, community health representatives, peer health promoters, and peer health educators. CHWs offer interpretation and translation services, provide culturally appropriate health education and information, assist people in receiving the care they need, give informal counseling and guidance on health behaviors, advocate for individual and community health needs, and provide some direct services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. Some examples of these practitioners are Community Health Aides or Practitioners established under 25 USC 1616 (l) under HHS, Indian Health Service, Public Health Service.