ROOTSTOWN, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio Medical University is spending $14 million to create new clinical spaces for its new dental degree, which will welcome its first class of students in late 2025.

The Bitonte College of Dentistry at Rootstown's Northeast Ohio Medical University will have a new state-of-the-art simulation lab and on-campus dental clinic where members of the public can get dental care, the university recently announced.

The new dental degree will address Ohio's critical shortage of dentists, while providing access to oral health care for the underserved in rural and urban regions, the university said.

The dental college will be one of the few dental colleges in the state of Ohio, the university said.

Frank Beck, inaugural dean of the Bitonte College of Dentistry, noted the importance of training more dentists as part of workforce development. Nearly 60% of dentists in Ohio are approaching retirement, and the state will need an additional 600 dentists by 2025, the university estimates.

"The need is well documented," Beck said during a recent groundbreaking ceremony. "The number-one unmet health care need of the citizens of the state of Ohio is dental."

Northeast Ohio Medical University is repurposing existing space to create the dental college's new clinical spaces. The dental school will join the university's colleges of medicine, pharmacy and graduate studies.

The four-year dental program's clinical training will take place through community clinical partnerships, providing extensive opportunities in diverse clinical settings.

The Dr. Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte Family Foundation gave a $10 million commitment for development of the dental college, the university said.