North Texas Dentistry Volume 9 Issue 5 2019 ISSUE 5 DE | Page 16

Texas A&M College of Dentistry
A new beginning
January 2020 opening of new clinical building
takes patient care to next level
by Kathleen Green Pothier
Instead of working independently
with patients, each D3 is assigned
a D4 partner. The two work in
concert, sharing treatment, assist-
ing and support roles in the care of
the patient. To ensure the effec-
tiveness of the newly revamped
clinical curriculum, 12 students
were chosen to participate in a
pilot program that began in June
2018.
The start of 2020 will usher
in a new era in dental educa-
tion for Texas A&M College
of Dentistry.
The opening of the college’s new
157,756-square-foot, nine-story clinic
and education building will enable the
dental school to increase underserved
patients’ access to oral health care and
shift from a traditional discipline-
based approach to a “whole health”
educational model.
To celebrate this milestone, the
college has planned a series of events
January 23-25, 2020, to coincide with
the grand opening. The annual home-
coming reception, which is usually held
during Southwest Dental Conference, will
occur on campus Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
Tours of the new facility will be available
that day as well. A continuing education
course will be offered from 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 25 for the dental
community.
The new building will feature nearly 300
dental chair stations with the most ad-
vanced technology, specialized clinics,
clinical support areas, classrooms and
study spaces. Long-needed patient park-
ing will be available in a garage located
on the first three levels of the structure.
As a result of these new facilities, the ca-
pacity for patient visits, which currently
number approximately 100,000 per year,
is expected to increase by up to 40 per-
cent. To address the shortage of dental
health care providers in the state’s under-
served areas, the dental school’s goal is to
increase enrollment while maintaining its
position as one of the nation’s most di-
verse dental schools.
The College of Dentistry continues its
commitment to a competency-based cur-
riculum. An educational emphasis on
comprehensive care encourages a pa-
tient-centered approach to clinical edu-
cation, advances the role of faculty as
mentors, integrates dental hygiene into
the comprehensive-care team and facili-
tates computerized patient tracking.
Scientific research demonstrates that oral
health is linked to our overall health, so
faculty members at the college are teach-
ing students to not only develop treat-
ment plans for each patient, but to also
do so with the input of the patient’s other
health care providers.
A new curriculum model calls for collab-
oration among peers in different classes.
16 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
The College of Dentistry opened
its doors in 1905 and moved to its
current location in 1950. While
significant expansions have enhanced
square footage, this new facility is the
first stand-alone structure built for the
dental school since that time.
Look for more news related to the grand
opening as 2020 approaches.
Texas A&M College of Dentistry (formerly
Baylor College of Dentistry) in Dallas is a part of
Texas A&M University and Texas A&M Health Sci-
ence Center. Founded in 1905, the College of
Dentistry is a nationally recognized center for oral
health sciences education, research, specialized
patient care and continuing dental education.
Learn more at dentistryinsider.tamhsc.edu or
follow @TAMUdental.
Kathleen Green Pothier is communications coor-
dinator at Texas A&M College of Dentistry. She
previously worked at Positively Proofed, where she
wrote and edited content for corporate clients, pub-
lications and motivational speakers. She also was
a writer and editor at The Dallas Morning News,
Houston Post and Beaumont Enterprise. Pothier
has a journalism degree from the University
of Nebraska.