CHAMPAIGN — Parkland College is set to receive $3.5 million in federal funding to expand its dental hygiene clinic.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Parkland College Wednesday to express his support of the expansion.
College officials say the investment will allow them to train more students and expand access to free and low-cost dental care in the community.
“What it means for us is that we can expand accessibility for the community clinic, that we can expand the number of community members that we can serve each year and increase the number of students that we train as dental hygienists,” said Pamela Lau, president of Parkland College.
Durbin secured the funding as an earmark in the 2026 appropriations package enacted by lawmakers earlier this month. The earmark, also known as the Congressionally Directed Spending process, allows senators to request federal funding for specific projects of their choosing.
Parkland’s dental hygiene program launched in the early 1970s. It serves as a clinical site where students serve the community with dental services, such as oral examinations, periodontal disease evaluation, X-rays and more.
Currently, about 90 students apply to the program each year and 36 are selected, according to Durbin. He said the expansion will increase enrollment to 50 students annually.
Durbin said his focus on dental shortages began about five years ago during a meeting with Carolin Harvey, the mayor of Carbondale.
“She said, ‘you wouldn’t believe how long kids with toothaches have to wait to get in to see a dentist in southern Illinois,’” Durbin said. “And once they’ve been diagnosed as needing dental treatment, they wait up to one year before they get actual treatment for whatever brought them to the dentist in the first place.”
He said the shortage of dental care services is a problem across the state.
Addressing attendees at Wednesday’s press conference at the Parkland College Student Union, Durbin said: “Anybody here been a parent raising a child with a toothache? Can you imagine four months? Can you imagine one year? I can’t. That is the reality when it comes to dental services in our state.”
Durbin said expanding training programs like Parkland’s is one way to address the shortage of dental hygienists. But access to dental care for low-income residents is also hampered by the fact that only 24% of dentists in Illinois take patients with Medicaid, compared to 80% of doctors, he said.
“We’ve got to find reimbursement and other incentives to get more dentists to treat low-income families,” Durbin said. “They have kids who may need help more than most.”
Parkland currently offers all preventive services — provided by dental hygiene students under the supervision of experienced faculty members — for a $10 fee, and services are free for children, senior citizens and anyone in the greatest need, said Laura Hettinger, program director for the Parkland Dental Hygiene program.
She said the clinic currently serves more than 400 new community members each year. The new facility will allow them to increase student and public access to dental care by approximately 40%.
The clinic is in its early stages of development, and a timeline for opening has not yet been determined.