FARMINGTON — Word of clearing the first hurdle in securing $450,000 for Community Dental’s operation in Farmington was encouraging, Lisa Kavanaugh, chief executive officer of Community Dental said last week.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she had secured initial approval of the funds for the nonprofit Maine dental service to purchase equipment and expand at the local center. A center that “serves residents in an under-served area that has highest Dental Health Provider Shortage Score in the state,” she said in a release.

Community Dental operates five dental health centers including the one located on the first floor of Mt. Blue Health Center on the campus of Franklin Memorial Hospital, Kavanaugh said. The center offers a full range of dentistry services to children and adults based on MaineCare, insurance or on a sliding fee for those without insurance, she said.

The federal funds would help move the Farmington center to a second floor location and allow it to expand, she said.

Currently, over 60 percent of patients seen at the Farmington center are under 21-years of age and about 70 percent are patients of MaineCare but the center also sees many people who can’t afford full dental fees.

“Too many Mainers today lack access to dental care, particularly in rural areas that face a serious shortage of dentists,” Collins said.

The funding request is included in the Fiscal Year 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services Senate Appropriations bill with final acceptance expected later this fall.

abryant@sunjournal.com