Governor Steve Beshear has launched an initiative that he says will improve dental health among children of Eastern Kentucky.

“With this announcement I have made improving Kentuckians’ poor dental health a priority, especially when it comes to our children,” Gov. Beshear said in announcing this initiative this morning in Frankfort. “This funding will allow us to aggressively focus on increasing the number of dentists who treat young patients by offering more and better training opportunities for these professionals, as well as providing special resources targeted at building community involvement in distressed counties in Appalachia and ensuring communities have access to needed equipment.

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The Beshear Administration will use $1.6 million+ in federal grants over the next three years to focus on:

• Training more dentists to work with children
• Creating community coalitions throughout Eastern Kentucky to help tailor health care programs to impacted counties
• Providing two sets of portable dental equipment to community coalitions to increase access and use of dental services for children and adults

The Kentucky Oral Health Program in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services will coordinate.

The Appalachian Regional Commission will also provide Kentucky with two additional grants to focus on the 40 counties currently designated as distressed. The funds will help financially offset the time taken off from practice for dentists in the ARC region who participate in Access for Babies and Children to Dentistry program.

To kick things off, Governor Beshear will be in four Eastern Kentucky towns tomorrow to hold press conferences:

• 9:00 A.M. @ Russell Primary School
  Russell
• 11:00 A.M. @ McBrayer Elementary School
  Morehead
• 1:30 P.M. @ Highland Elementary
  Staffordsville
• 4:00 P.M. @ Dennis Wooten Elementary
  Hazard