The University of Maine System announced Thursday that it will build a new lab in Presque Isle to train dental assistants.
The Universities of Maine at Augusta and Presque Isle will collaborate on a learning lab and clinic at the Aroostook County campus, using $750,000 in congressionally directed spending secured by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King to help pay for it.
The program would begin in fall 2026, and is expected to expand in 2027 to offer community dental services.
It will be the first college-based program of its kind in northern Maine, according to system officials. Aspiring students from the area have had to travel more than 200 miles to Augusta. Having education closer to home will mean more people can seek jobs in a field that desperately needs more practitioners.
“There is dire demand for dental care in The County and I applaud our universities for collaborating to address this need together while also creating opportunities for those in northern Maine to pursue meaningful, good-paying careers in the region as allied oral health professionals,” UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy said in a press statement.
The County launched Maine’s first adult-education dental assistant program two years ago through a collaboration between SAD 1 Adult and Continuing Education, which covers Presque Isle and surrounding towns, and the Augusta campus.
Dental care shortages are prevalent statewide. MaineCare patients have dealt with long waiting lists and struggled to get care. The St. John Valley lost one of its two remaining clinics in 2023.
Offering oral care in schools is one solution touted nationally. St. Apollonia Dental Clinic in Presque Isle has joined that effort, having launched routine dental checkups in Caribou and Limestone schools to help children who otherwise don’t have access to oral care. The Aroostook County Action Program is also providing some care through its early childhood education.
But in order to expand care, dental offices need staff. Most of Maine is a federally designated dental health professional shortage area and just 28 percent of the state’s dental needs are being met, according to Samantha Warren, director of government and community relations at the UMaine System.
The new Aroostook program targets that need. The Presque Isle campus will kick in just over $1 million of the total $1.8 million program, according to a system press release. The lab will have three dental chairs where Augusta faculty can work with six dental assistant students and six extended-function dental assistant students.
“We are grateful to Senators Susan Collins and Angus King for securing needed start-up funds to bring high-quality allied dental education to northern Maine for the first time, UMPI President Ray Rice and UMA President Jenifer Cushman said in a joint statement. “We think this partnership is something to smile about and when the workforce training program and clinic are open, will make a real difference in improving the oral, physical and economic health of The County.”
