$7M bond issue before Legislature for dental college and community clinics around Maine covered by TV
WCSH 6 News did a story on March 16, 2010 on a bill before the Maine Legislature for a $7 million dollar bond issue to help pay for a dental college clinic and community clinics around Maine. If the bond issue is approved by the Legislature and by a referendum, UNE could apply for $5 million of the bond to help finance its plans for a College of Dental Medicine. Dental students in their fourth year would perform residencies in community clinics in underserved areas of the state, providing services for 60,000 patient visits a year. In the story, oral surgeon and former UNE Trustee Jeffrey Doss and UNE President Danielle Ripich explained that Maine has a severe shortage of dentists that will get worse as 41 percent of the dentists in the state near retirement. Dr. Doss said he was especially saddened by the number of children he saw whose lack of dental care often resulted in a loss of all their teeth.