MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — WVU Dental held its annual “Give a Kid a Smile” day on Friday, which gave local children and families an opportunity to receive free oral exams and radiographs.

The purpose of this national event is to bring dental health education to families and make children more comfortable with going to the dentist. A West Virginia Department of Human Services (formerly the Department of Human Resources) survey from 2017 found that one in five West Virginia third graders had untreated tooth decay.

“I think a lot of our citizens have a difficult time achieving access to care to oral health professionals and especially children. We only have about 20 pediatric dental specialists in the state,” Chair of Pediatric Dentistry at WVU Gina Graziani said.

The same West Virginia Department of Human Services report said that West Virginia could be facing a decline in dentists as more and more graduates choose to leave the state. The report said that reasons for the declining graduate retention include the high cost of healthcare start-ups, student debt and the isolation of rural areas.

Despite the report’s bleak outlook, the West Virginia School of Dentistry is adding a residency program in pediatric dentistry this July, the first of its kind in West Virginia.