TTUHSC El Paso and EPCC announce partnership to improve Borderland oral health care

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Hunt School of Dental Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and El Paso Community College announce their new partnership that seeks to improve access to oral health in the Borderland.

The partnership will also look to reduce the region’s provider shortage of qualified dental hygienists.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas has fewer dental hygienists per capita than the national average.

In our Borderplex region, the shortage is more acute, with only one dental hygienist for every 4,200 residents, compared to one for every 2,000 residents in the rest of Texas.

"So that's an increase of the cohort, an increase in clinical space, them getting access to treatment rooms that we otherwise do not have, definitely in the county, such as the disabled chair with the special needs patients," said Souraya Hajjar, Dean of Health Career and Technical Education, Math & Science Division at EPCC. "So the students will be exposed to different clinical scenarios, they will enhance their skills, they will have more practice hours towards their degree completion."

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