National dentist groups are raising questions about a study about dental care in Alaska Native villages.

The Kellogg Foundation funded a study of the dental therapy program run by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. The study determined that the therapists are providing safe and competent care in places that otherwise lack a full-time or part-time dentist.

But the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the Academy of General Dentistry say therapists shouldn't be able to drill and pull teeth. In most other states, only dentists can perform that kind of work.

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