Maine, like many states, is currently facing a serious shortage of dentists, particularly in rural areas. I am therefore pleased to report that the House and Senate have passed a bill I introduced to increase the dental workforce in our nation's rural and underserved communities. The Dental Health Improvement Act has now been signed into law by President Bush. Oral health in America has improved dramatically over the last fifty years, but these improvements have not occurred evenly across all sectors of our population, particularly among low-income individuals and families. Too many Americans today lack access to dental care. While there are clinically proven techniques to prevent or delay the progression of dental health problems, an estimated 25 million Americans live in areas lacking adequate dental services. Astoundingly, as many as eleven percent of our nation's rural population has never been to the dentist. While there is one dentist for every 2,300 people in the Portland area, the number drops dramatically in western and northern Maine. In Aroostook County, for example, there is only one dentist for every 5,500 people. This ratio, in effect, prevents many people from obtaining the consistent dental health care they need. Moreover, at a time when tooth decay is the most prevalent childhood disease in America, Maine has fewer than ten specialists in pediatric dentistry, and most of these are located in the southern part of the state. In Maine, approximately 173,000 citizens live in designated dental health professional shortage areas. Moreover, there are currently are approximately 400 active dentists in Maine, more than half of whom are 45 and older, in the state of Maine. More than twenty percent of dentists nationwide will retire in the next ten years and the number of dental graduates by 2015 may not be enough to replace these retirees. Maine is exploring a number of innovative ideas for increasing access to dental care in underserved areas. In an effort to supplement and encourage these efforts, my Dental Health Improvement Act will establish a new state grant program designed to improve access to oral health services in rural and underserved areas. The legislation authorizes $50 million over five years for grants to states to help them develop innovative dental workforce development programs specific to their individual needs. States like Maine, that do not have a dental school, could use the funds to establish a dental residency program. Other states might want to use the funds to establish or expand community or school-based dental facilities or to set up mobile or portable dental clinics. Others may want to use the funds for loan forgiveness and repayment programs for dentists practicing in underserved areas or to provide grants and low-or-no-interest loans to help practitioners to establish or expand practices in these areas. The National Health Service Corps is helping to meet the oral health needs of underserved communities by placing dentists and dental hygienists in some of America's most difficult-to-place inner city, rural, and frontier areas. Unfortunately, however, the number of dentists and dental hygienists with obligations to serve in the Corps falls far short of meeting the total identified need. According to the Surgeon General, only about 6 percent of the dental need in America's rural and underserved communities is currently being met by the Corps. My bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and implement a plan for increasing the participation of dentists and dental hygienists in the Corps' scholarship and loan repayment program. It also improves the process for designating dental health professional shortage areas and ensures that the criteria for making such designations provides a more accurate reflection of oral health needs, particularly in rural areas. The U.S. Surgeon General report, Oral Health in America, states that "the mouth acts as a mirror of health and disease" that can help diagnose disorders such as diabetes, leukemia, heart disease, or anemia. Oral and general health are inseparable, and good dental care is critical to our overall physical well-being. The Dental Health Improvement Act will make critically important oral health services more accessible, which will help to improve the overall health of individuals living in our nation's rural and underserved areas.