Media cover James Koelbl's participation in a Chamber panel on a new 'Oral Health' study

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2012, Koelbl appeared on MPBN public radio's 'Maine Calling' program in an interview with Jennifer Rooks. On Wednesday, Koelbl was a member of a panel that discussed the issues of the report at the Augusta Civic Center in a program sponsored by the Maine Chamber of Commerce.
 
The study found that Maine has fewer dentists per capita than most other states. In 2007, there were five dentists per 10,000 people: that compares to a national average of six per 10,000, and a ratio of more than eight per 10,000 in Massachusetts.
 
It also highlighted the uneven distribution of dentists across Maine, with far fewer of them to go around in the sparsely populated areas, like Somerset or Aroostook Counties, where there's about one dentist for every 4,000 residents. According to the Maine State Chamber, 40 percent of Mainers live in areas that are federally-designated as having a shortage of dental professionals.
 
James Koelbl told the meeting he's hopeful that will change in the next few years. With the UNE College of Dental Medicine enrolling its first class in fall 2013, "We think that the new dental school can be a really quality resource to help all the people of this state solve some of these very real problems," he said.
 
Koelbl says the aim is to get students into patient care as soon as possible, so that by their fourth year they can spend most of their time out in the communities where they are needed. "We want them to be in community clinics, we want them to be in some private practices and hospitals, VAs, wherever we can find partners out there who are willing to help us educate the future dentist," he said.
 
In an interview with WABI TV in Augusta, Koelbl explained that "If you can recruit students from those rural areas, you train them locally, you get them back in to these community clinics and practices as part of their educational program, they're far more likely to choose to stay in those areas and practice, and we know that it works because it's been done in other states."
 
In addition to WABI TV, Koelbl's panel participation was covered by the MPBN radio, the Morning Sentinel, and the Kennebec Journal.

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.