Reversing Missouri's Dentist Shortage

Oral health is closely linked to overall wellness, but six counties in Missouri lack even a single dentist to serve their residents and twelve counties have only one. In 2013, 149 areas in our state lacked sufficient dental professionals. This shortage stops Missourians in underserved areas from receiving the primary dental care necessary to prevent serious oral health problems from developing. Missouri ranks 49th in the percentage of children under 18 receiving dental care and 41st in the percentage of adults who visit a dentist.

A.T. Still University opened the Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in Kirksville, Missouri in 2013 to begin to alleviate our state’s oral health professional shortage. I met with representatives from the university this week to discuss their plan to widen access to dental care in Missouri.

A.T. Still is a private, not-for-profit university specializing in health sciences. The innovative dental school will focus on community and public health through its connections with community health centers.

Students will study dentistry at the Kirksville campus for the first two years of the program. Year three and half of year four will be spent training at a clinical site in St. Louis City, which is one of Missouri’s most underserved areas. The new dental clinic will be operated in conjunction with Grace Hill Health Centers and is expected to have its grand opening on June 8, 2015. Students will train in community health centers throughout the state for the remainder of their fourth year to gain experience in varied rural environments. Even before they graduate, the students will offer much needed services to Missouri families.

Every year, 70 dentists in Missouri retire and only 50 enter the profession to take their place. A.T. Still’s dental students will reverse this trend by entering the workforce with the skills to serve counties desperately in need of dental professionals.