UNMC to provide dental services for Omaha Tribe

MACY, Neb. (AP) – A new agreement will allow staff and students from the University of Nebraska Medical Center's dental college to offer services to the Omaha Tribe.

Beginning Monday, pediatric dental residents and dental assistants will provide care for more than 70 children on the tribe's reservation in Macy. It's the first in a series of dental clinics.

The dental college's Don Herbst says children with severe problems will be referred to a pediatric dental clinic in Omaha and treated at UNMC.

Tribal chairman Amen Sheridan says children's dental health in a big concern on the reservation and the agreement with UNMC will increase awareness of oral health.

The services are being provided to the tribe with the help of two five-year grants from the National Institutes of Health totaling $3.5 million.