(AP) — A new report says it can be difficult to get a cavity filled in rural parts of Nebraska because more than half of the state’s 93 counties are short on dentists.

The Center for Health Policy at the University of Nebraska Medical Center says 20 counties don’t have any dentists and another 31 counties have only 1 or two dentists.

The shortage of dentists in rural parts of the state could get worse because 39 percent of Nebraska’s dentists are nearing retirement.

One of the report’s authors, Kim McFarland, says the state needs to figure out ways to encourage more dentists to set up shop in under served areas.