People who live in Tyrrell, Jones, Camden and Hyde counties have just as many dental needs as anyone else on the planet. But they lack an important key toward meeting those needs – a dentist.

That's right. There isn't a dentist to be found in those four counties. What's more, another 24 counties in North Carolina have two dentists or fewer to serve their residents.

Never mind that North Carolina is the country's 10th most populous state. It ranks 47th among the states in dentists per capita.

The N.C. General Assembly earlier this year wisely overcame a lobbying effort from a group of dentists and spent $25 million to design and build a new dental school at East Carolina University. The ECU school will be only the second in the state, and it's sorely needed.

Not only does North Carolina have major dental needs, the eastern part of the state, in particular, is underserved by dentists today.

But even with a new school enrolling students by 2011, the state will have to get creative to make dental care accessible to people who don't have it now. After all, dentists are likely to be tempted by bigger, more affluent markets. Better to make money from oral surgery and cosmetics in markets that can afford such services.

That's why the state should consider an incentives plan to attract dentists to counties that desperately need dental care. Grants or partnerships might serve as incentives to dentists who otherwise would gravitate toward Wake and Mecklenburg counties.

Dental care is an important part of the overall health of any community. It's high time the needy parts of the state caught up with counties where dentists are a given.