A New Era

Hunt School of Dental Medicine students begin their journey at TTUHSC El Paso

Excitement is in the air following the historic opening of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. Over the summer, the first 40 dental students arrived at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso to begin making their mark on the community.

Housed in the new Medical Sciences Building II, the dental school is the first to open in Texas in more than 50 years and the first on the U.S.-Mexico border. Students began training in the Dental Learning Center, which features high-tech simulation manikins and a fabrication laboratory for crafting dental appliances.

“It’s surpassed every vision I had and already feels like home,” said student Anna Ceniceros from Clarendon, Texas. “I’m excited to be in the clinic and work in the operation rooms – I’m already picturing myself helping patients here.”

Members of the inaugural class were present during a June 22 ribbon-cutting for the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. They were joined by donors, community leaders and elected officials. To improve the accessibility of oral health care in the community, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine offers reduced-cost dental care in the public clinic, which expects to have over 60,000 patient encounters annually by 2025.

The state-of-the-art clinic includes nine multipurpose suites, two functional needs suites, five pediatric suites, five oral surgery suites and 130 student-learning operatories where students will treat patients under the supervision of world-class faculty members. With a total of 145 treatment chairs, the clinic is the largest in El Paso.

“The Hunt School of Dental Medicine will be a change agent for health in the Borderland,” said Richard C. Black, D.D.S., M.S., dean of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. “With 42% of the inaugural class hailing from West Texas and border regions in Texas, we’re focused on our patients having access to the highest quality care in the region, while also preparing students to be culturally competent providers.”

The next few years are expected to be filled with historic firsts at the dental school and clinic as students brighten up smiles on the TTUHSC El Paso campus and in the Borderland.