I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2371 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand and improve the provision 

of pediatric dental services to medically underserved populations, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2007 

Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, and Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand and 

improve the provision of pediatric dental services to 

medically underserved populations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Deamonte’s Law’’ . 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 The Congress finds as follows: 

7 (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre8 vention reports that tooth decay in baby teeth has 


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1 increased 15 percent among United States toddlers 

2 and preschoolers 2 to 5 years old, between 1988 to 

3 1994 and 1994 to 2004. 

4 (2) During the period of 1999 to 2004, 28 per5 cent of young children had experienced cavities. 

6 (3) Tooth decay is the single most common 

7 childhood chronic disease, and it disproportionately 

8 affects poor and minority children. 

9 (4) Eighty percent of dental decay occurs in 

10 just 25 percent of children. 

11 (5) Parents are 3 times more likely to report 

12 that their children’s dental needs are unmet, when 

13 compared with general medical care needs. 

14 (6) While 9,000,000 of the children in this Na15 tion do not have medical insurance, more than twice 

16 that number—20,000,000—do not have dental in17 surance. 

18 (7) The Department of Health and Human 

19 Services estimates that more than 31,000,000 people 

20 live in dental health provider shortage areas, and 

21 4,650 additional dentists would be needed to meet 

22 the need that exists in those areas. 

23 (8) Health centers serve as the health care 

24 home for 16,000,000 individuals, including 

25 5,200,000 children, aged 18 and under. 


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1 (9) A significant number of health centers pro2 vide dental services, but in many instances those 

3 services are inadequate to meet the needs of low-in4 come children in the communities they serve. 

5 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 

7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 330M. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award grants to 

11 Federally qualified health centers to expand and improve 

12 the provision of pediatric dental services to medically un13 derserved populations. 

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 

15 a grant to a Federally qualified health center under this 

16 section unless the center agrees to use the grant to expand 

17 and improve the provision of pediatric dental services to 

18 medically underserved populations by— 

19 ‘‘(1) recruiting dentists, pediatric dentists, or 

20 dentists with pediatric training to provide pediatric 

21 dental services to populations served by the center; 

22 ‘‘(2) purchasing or renting equipment for the 

23 provision of dental services; 

24 ‘‘(3) constructing and expanding physical space 

25 for the provision of dental services; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) allowing contractual relationships between 

2 Federally qualified health centers and private dental 

3 providers to increase access to dental care for adults 

4 and children. 

5 ‘‘(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this section, and annu7 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct an evaluation 

8 of the activities funded through grants under this section 

9 and submit a report to the Congress on the results of such 

10 evaluation. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federally qualified health cen13 ter’ has the meaning given to such term in section 

14 1861(aa)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1395x(aa)(4)). 

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘pediatric dentist’ means an indi17 vidual who has successfully completed residency 

18 training from a pediatric dentistry program accred19 ited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. 

20 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

21 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro22 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

23 2013.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 292 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 747 the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 747A. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 

7 schools of dentistry and hospitals with accredited training 

8 programs in pediatric dentistry to increase the number of 

9 individuals who pursue academic programs in pediatric 

10 dentistry. 

11 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 

12 a grant to a school of dentistry or a hospital under this 

13 section unless the school or hospital agrees to use the 

14 grant to increase the number of individuals who pursue 

15 academic programs in pediatric dentistry by— 

16 ‘‘(1) establishing, maintaining, or improving 

17 both pre- and post-doctoral academic programs in 

18 pediatric dentistry; 

19 ‘‘(2) recruiting and training dental students to 

20 pursue training in pediatric dentistry; 

21 ‘‘(3) strengthening training in pediatric den22 tistry within advanced education in general dentistry 

23 and general practice dentistry residencies in den24 tistry programs; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) recruiting and training practicing dentists 

2 through continuing education programs in pediatric 

3 dentistry. 

4 ‘‘(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this section, and annu6 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct an evaluation 

7 of the activities funded through grants under this section 

8 and submit a report to the Congress on the results of such 

9 evaluation. 

10 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

11 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro12 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

13 2013.’’. 

Æ 


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