The University of Oklahoma Tulsa plans to open a 5,000-square-foot dental clinic this summer to expand care locally for those in need, Public Radio Tulsa reported Jan. 19.
The clinic is one of several the school plans to build across the state to address the lack of accessible and affordable oral healthcare in the state.
The school said the state ranks 49th in the U.S. for access to dental care. There are seven counties in the state where indigent-care patients do not have access to dental care within a 30-mile radius, three of which are in northeast Oklahoma, which has fewer dentists per capita than most areas of the U.S.
Raymond Cohlmia, DDS, dean of the university's college of dentistry, said about 30 percent of patients at the school's Oklahoma City clinic come from northeast Oklahoma.
The clinic will provide care to patients of all ages.