A group of Kansas dentists is hoping the Legislature will take steps to keep more dentists in the state. Kansas and Missouri have an agreement, in which some students who are Kansas residents can attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City dental school and pay in-state tuition. Brett Roufs (roofs) is a dentist from Newton and the past president of the Kansas Dental Association. He says Kansas can send around 20 students per year to UMKC through the program. He hopes the legislature will require some of those students to come back and work in the state.
Roufs says they’d also like to see some programs that will offer incentives to attract dentists to rural areas and parts of Kansas where dentists aren’t available.