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 pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Deamonte’s Law’’ . 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention reports that tooth decay in baby teeth has 
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increased 15 percent among United States toddlers 
and preschoolers 2 to 5 years old, between 1988 to 
1994 and 1994 to 2004. 
(2) During the period of 1999 to 2004, 28 per-
cent of young children had experienced cavities. 
(3) Tooth decay is the single most common 
childhood chronic disease, and it disproportionately 
affects poor and minority children. 
(4) Eighty percent of dental decay occurs in 
just 25 percent of children. 
(5) Parents are 3 times more likely to report 
that their children’s dental needs are unmet, when 
compared with general medical care needs. 
(6) While 9,000,000 of the children in this Na-
tion do not have medical insurance, more than twice 
that number—20,000,000—do not have dental in-
surance. 
(7) The Department of Health and Human 
Services estimates that more than 31,000,000 people 
live in dental health provider shortage areas, and 
4,650 additional dentists would be needed to meet 
the need that exists in those areas. 
(8) Health centers serve as the health care 
home 
for 
16,000,000 
individuals, 
including 
5,200,000 children, aged 18 and under. 
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(9) A significant number of health centers pro-
vide dental services, but in many instances those 
services are inadequate to meet the needs of low-in-
come children in the communities they serve. 
SEC. 3. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM. 
Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 330M. ACCESS TO DENTAL CARE PILOT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award grants to 
Federally qualified health centers to expand and improve 
the provision of pediatric dental services to medically un-
derserved populations. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 
a grant to a Federally qualified health center under this 
section unless the center agrees to use the grant to expand 
and improve the provision of pediatric dental services to 
medically underserved populations by— 
‘‘(1) recruiting dentists, pediatric dentists, or 
dentists with pediatric training to provide pediatric 
dental services to populations served by the center; 
‘‘(2) purchasing or renting equipment for the 
provision of dental services; 
‘‘(3) constructing and expanding physical space 
for the provision of dental services; or 
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‘‘(4) allowing contractual relationships between 
Federally qualified health centers and private dental 
providers to increase access to dental care for adults 
and children. 
‘‘(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this section, and annu-
ally thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct an evaluation 
of the activities funded through grants under this section 
and submit a report to the Congress on the results of such 
evaluation. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘Federally qualified health cen-
ter’ has the meaning given to such term in section 
1861(aa)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(aa)(4)). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘pediatric dentist’ means an indi-
vidual who has successfully completed residency 
training from a pediatric dentistry program accred-
ited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro-
priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 
2013.’’. 
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SEC. 4. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM. 
Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
292 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 747 the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 747A. DENTISTRY WORKFORCE PILOT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 
schools of dentistry and hospitals with accredited training 
programs in pediatric dentistry to increase the number of 
individuals who pursue academic programs in pediatric 
dentistry. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 
a grant to a school of dentistry or a hospital under this 
section unless the school or hospital agrees to use the 
grant to increase the number of individuals who pursue 
academic programs in pediatric dentistry by— 
‘‘(1) establishing, maintaining, or improving 
both pre- and post-doctoral academic programs in 
pediatric dentistry; 
‘‘(2) recruiting and training dental students to 
pursue training in pediatric dentistry; 
‘‘(3) strengthening training in pediatric den-
tistry within advanced education in general dentistry 
and general practice dentistry residencies in den-
tistry programs; or 
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