Section 144-506-1 - Definitions The following words and phrases shall have the following meaningsa. Dental Practitioner - is a licensed dentist whose practice assumes responsibility for providing general dental-care services to the total population, regardless of age.b. Dental Care Analysis Areas (DCAAs) - are the geographic base units utilized to assess the availability of and to measure the need for additional dental practitioners. There are 45 DCAAs that were developed by the Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health and Office of Health Planning and Development, the Maine Dental Association and the Maine Health Systems Agency in 1981. These areas are identified in the most recent edition of the State Health Plan for Maine.c. Underserved Geographic Area - is a DCAA that has an inadequate number of full-time-equivalent dental practitioners to meet the dental needs of the population as determined by application of the criteria stated below in Section 3 of this rule.d. Full-Time-Equivalent Dentist - is a general dental practitioner who provides patient care an average of forty hours per week. For dentists who provide patient care for fewer than forty hours per week, every four hours spent in providing patient care will be counted as 0.1 full-time-equivalent. An age adjustment factor is also utilized in determining the full-time-equivalency of the dentist. The equivalency weights are as follows:
Equivalency Weights
| Age | Under 55 | 55-59 | 60-64 | 65+ |
| Equiv. Weights | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
e. Population to Dentist Ratio - is determined by dividing the population of a Dental Care Analysis Area by the number of full-time-equivalent dentists who practice within the area. The ratio for each Dental Care Analysis Area will be expressed as a number of people per one dentist (e.g., 3500:1).10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 506, § 1