Students in Limestone County schools will receive free dental screenings that could lead to free or affordable dental care down the road.

Limestone County school board members agreed during their monthly meeting Monday to work with Sarrell Regional Dental Center, a non-profit group, to provide free screenings for students.

The group will screen students and, if needed, provide treatment at a clinic it plans to open in Limestone County, as soon as it finds a building.

“The screenings will not cost the students and it will not cost the schools,” Superintendent Dr. Barry Carroll told board members.

The school system’s roll is to allow the screenings and to help Sarrell find a building to use for a clinic, he said.

The goal of the clinic is to provide oral health to the underserved children of Alabama. It covers its costs by serving children, ages 1-20, who are eligible for Medicaid or BlueCross/BlueShield ALL Kids, Alabama’s free and low-cost insurance for kids.

Sarrell has similar dental clinics in Anniston, Bessemer, Boaz, Enterprise, Heflin, Leesburg Talladega and Mobile, and vision centers in Anniston, Bessemer, Boaz and Heflin.

Sarrell representatives told board members last month that their goal is to find a building in Limestone County — ranging from 1,800 to 2,200 square feet — with heating and air-conditioning and reasonable parking that could be leased for $1 and renovated by Sarrell as a dental/eye center. The owner of the property would agree to a 10-year-lease and get his or her property improved without having to pay for it.

Sarrell served 35,000 patients in 2008, a representative said.

Board member Charles Shoulders Jr. recommended Sarrell to board members after touring the center in Anniston.

The group, which is a partner of the University of Alabama Dental School and the Alabama Department of Public Health, has a Web site at www.sarrelldental.org/aboutus.html.