With more than half of Wisconsin counties federally classified as dental Health Professional Shortage Areas, patients sometimes wait more than a year to get dental appointments in rural areas, according to Milwaukee Magazine.
Milwaukee-based Marquette University is the state's only dental school, and graduating dentists are choosing to practice near cities instead of rural Wisconsin, the school's dean, William Lobb, DDS, told Milwaukee Magazine.
While Wisconsin's 2019-21 budget includes $44 million for expanding dental care, it does not specifically target the rural shortages. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said at least 200 rural dentists are needed, according to Milwaukee Magazine.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, and Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, proposed creating an annual scholarship that would give five dentistry students $20,000 each for every semester they provided dental care in a rural area. However, Gov. Evers vetoed the scholarship from his own previously approved budget because he objected to "limiting the funding to one health care practice area," Milwaukee Magazine reported.
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Milwaukee-based Marquette University is the state's only dental school, and graduating dentists are choosing to practice near cities instead of rural Wisconsin, the school's dean, William Lobb, DDS, told Milwaukee Magazine.
While Wisconsin's 2019-21 budget includes $44 million for expanding dental care, it does not specifically target the rural shortages. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said at least 200 rural dentists are needed, according to Milwaukee Magazine.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, and Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, proposed creating an annual scholarship that would give five dentistry students $20,000 each for every semester they provided dental care in a rural area. However, Gov. Evers vetoed the scholarship from his own previously approved budget because he objected to "limiting the funding to one health care practice area," Milwaukee Magazine reported.
More articles on dental:
3 things to know about the dental imaging market
Oral health nonprofits team up to educate dentists on cleft patients
Massachusetts DSO makes 3 new affiliations