It’s a good bet that community leaders in Tamaqua are smiling.

That’s because in the last few days, they’ve received news that would put a grin on anyone’s face.

On Wednesday, a Temple University official announced at a state Senate Majority Policy Committee session that the university plans to open a dental school in the borough, making it the first community in the state to host a rural medical college.

The dental school announcement came during a session on the status of rural dentistry headed by state Sen. David Argall (R-29), Sen. Lisa Baker (R-20), Rep. Tim Twardzik (R-122), Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-122) and Evelyn Datte, representing Congressman Dan Meuser.

Dr. Amid Ismail, the dean of Temple’s dental school, hopes a Tamaqua facility could be operational by September of 2026.

Students would attend classes at the university in Philadelphia for two years, then move to Tamaqua for two years to live and train.

The school would have about 20 students who would live in apartments in the former Scheid Department Store on East Broad Street. They would take classes in a proposed 23-chair clinic at a yet-to-be-determined site, which would allow them to walk to and from classes.

What’s more, opening the facility would help train dentists who might serve rural areas, where extreme shortages exist.

Panelists told lawmakers that the availability of dental care from all related disciplines across rural areas of Pennsylvania is in severe crisis.

The committee, in a three-hour session, learned about the horrors of inadequate dentistry resources in many areas of the state.

Often, children with dental issues deal with loss of sleep, speech problems, and a poor diet. Many suffering with abscessed teeth miss school because they lack nearby available care.

Untreated, tooth decay and gum disease can lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and breathing problems, not to mention an addiction to pain killers.

So it is with elderly patients — including those in nursing homes — who’ve broken teeth or dentures and are forced to give up favorite meals or go on soft diets.

Waiting for treatment has become the norm for dental issues. In fact, dwindling numbers of practices have created an average wait time of 55 days to be seen by a professional. Potential patients can wait for years to be seen since practices aren’t accepting new customers.

Speaking of waiting, people with dental issues seek relief — even if only temporary — at hospital emergency rooms, they add to wait times in already clogged facilities.

A state professional organization estimated Pennsylvania needs 2,000 dentists; 7,000 dental hygienists; and 10,000 expanded function dental assistants.

Add to that the fact that numbers are, for now, declining.

For example, rural counties showed just 17.9% of licensed dentists serving rural counties in 2023, compared to 82.1% in urban areas.

So it goes with dental hygienists, where just 23% of those registered positions serve rural communities.

Complicating the issue, nearly 25% of the licensed dentists in the state are 65 years old and are eligible for retirement. Many have left the profession earlier.

The lawmakers heard suggestions like loan forgiveness, tax incentives, increased Medicaid reimbursement and teledentistry as solutions to a worsening problem.

Any one of them, or any combination of them certainly would help legislators find answers.

For now, though, the cooperation of folks at Temple and the foresight of a rebuilding community is beginning to turn things around in the borough.

Bringing dental students to the area opens opportunities for local businesses, creating jobs and traffic, building on the progress of the last several years, and slowing decades of decay.

And in Tamaqua, that brings smiles.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.