BINGHAM -- It's been at least three years since rural Upper Kennebec Valley has had its own dentist.

And before that, dental services were sparse at best, especially for low income families.

That is all about to change in a couple of weeks with the arrival of a dentist, and by sometime next year, a completed dental clinic.

"There is no dental care at all for people who have MaineCare, essentially, except to have their teeth pulled," said physician Cindy Robertson at the Bingham Area Health Center. "We can't get any dental care for kids who have MaineCare.

"Larry is going to change all that. It's not just for Bingham it's for the whole region."

"Larry" is Capt. Lawrence H. Jacoby, a dentist and Ready Responder in the U.S. Public Health Service who joined HealthReach Community Health Centers full-time in October.

MaineCare is the state's equivalent of Medicaid, Robertson said. The new clinic will serve all patients, including those with and without insurance on a sliding scale of payments.

Jacoby, 55, is to begin dental services in Bingham in early December.

"I've been in Maine for four years, working in other health centers," said Jacoby, who lives with his wife in Industry, but hails from Oregon. "As part of my job, I'm expected to relocate every few years. I was aware of HealthReach. I knew they had a dental program.

"I also knew that the dental clinic here had been closed for several years."

Robertson said Martha Young of Wellington, a member of the Bingham Area Health Council, meanwhile, is helping to write grant applications for the construction of a new dental clinic at the health center on Main Street.

"We've just paid for this building, so we're free and clear and all of our money is going to go into that," Robertson said. "So what we also are hoping for is that people are going to feel generous, not that's it's a good economy, and give us a few dollars.

"We've got about $100,000 -- we need $400,000 -- for the building and equipment."

Robertson said finding a dentist willing to serve the estimated 1,800 people from towns in the Upper Kennebec Valley including Bingham, Caratunk, Embden, Moscow, Pleasant Ridge, Solon, The Forks, and West Forks, was a challenge.

Jacoby is a member of the National Health Service Corp., as are Robertson and family nurse practitioner Sarah Andel. The National Health Service Corp. is a federal program designed to bring doctors to low-income, underserved areas of the country.

Jacoby will provide dental care at Bingham for a three-year period during which time he will be working with HealthReach to recruit a permanent dentist for the Bingham location. Jacoby has a license in dentistry as well as a master's degree in public health.

"HealthReach got this person for us; they are to be given credit for finding Larry for us," Robertson said.

Jacoby and Young said the Upper Kennebec Valley region fits the criteria for assistance under National Health Service Corp. guidelines.

"Here we had a situation where this was a clinic with a dentist who left and for over three years they were unable to find another dentist," Jacoby said.

Young added that area residents would have to travel to Skowhegan or further for dental services -- if they could find a provider. MaineCare patients routinely were turned away by providers because the reimbursement for services is so low, she said.

The plan ultimately, once Jacoby gets to work in December, is to expand to two operators, offices where dentistry is performed with the assistance of a dental hygienist. Then next summer, if all goes according to plan, a new dental clinic with four offices will be constructed next to the health center.

"We will be available to provide dental services for area residents and our focus is on those folks who have had difficulty obtaining dental care in the past," Jacoby said.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534, ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com