Debate over school dental clinics shifts to Senate

A battle over who tends to the teeth of Louisiana’s poor children has moved to the state Senate. The bill would direct the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry to come up with new, tighter regulations on mobile dental clinics at public schools. That was the compromise proposal worked out in the House after lawmakers there rejected an outright ban on the clinics. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee was set to debate the measure today but postponed discussion until next week, after the committee ran out of time amid a lengthy agenda. The bill has become one of the more heavily lobbied issues of the legislative session. Critics of the clinics say it is unsafe to drill on children’s teeth in school libraries and cafeterias. Others say the service brings care to poor children who otherwise would never see a dentist.