Texas A & M College of Dentistry
INCREASING ACCESS TO CARE FOR SOUTH DALLAS COMMUNITIES by Carolyn Cox
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Texas A & M College of Dentistry ’ s Dr . M . C . Cooper Dental Clinic in South Dallas has expanded opportunities for the college ’ s students to provide local residents with quality dental care .
Within its first year , the clinic currently boasts over 1,800 patient visits , with plans to double that number in 2022 now that the facility is fully operational . This patient-care site was dedicated in March 2021 and opened a month later as the first College of Dentistry-owned clinic located away from the main campus .
The Cooper clinic particularly serves residents of all ages in the Frazier community of South Dallas , but any City of Dallas resident over age 60 can be seen without restrictions , says Dr . Renicke Moss , staff dentist .
“ We do not turn away any patients due to inability to pay ,” Moss says . “ None of our patients pay for any services provided for them at Cooper .”
Currently eight fourth-year dental students serve patients at the clinic each day under the supervision of faculty members in public health sciences who rotate through three community clinic sites . Dr . Esther Tam from the college ’ s endodontics department supervises root canal procedures by dental students at the clinic on Tuesdays .
“ Patients express heartfelt appreciation literally daily for their increased access to care , as Cooper affords many people their first chance in years ( and in some cases , ever ) to receive dental treatment ,” says Dr . Karl Veasey , public health sciences faculty member , who adds that students love their experiences there . “ It is rewarding to see patients referring their family and friends to the clinic .”
Five dental hygiene students rotate through to provide care on Thursdays . Supervising faculty member Leah Spittle says the cases they manage are enhancing their periodontal evaluation skills and nonsurgical periodontal therapies .
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“ The dental hygiene students are getting some amazing realworld experience ,” she says .
Graduate students in Advanced Education in General Dentistry provide care at the facility as well , working closely with Moss for advanced experiences . Moss sees additional patients there daily .
The building ’ s namesake , Dr . Marcellus Clayton Cooper , was the first Black dentist in Texas . Born into slavery in 1862 , Cooper went on to attend grade school in Little Egypt , a freedman ’ s town in what is now Lake Highlands , a northeast Dallas neighborhood . He later moved to Springfield , Missouri , with his father to complete high school . Cooper returned to Dallas and began working at Sanger Brothers department store , where he saved enough money for dental school and enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville , Tennessee .
He returned to Dallas in 1896 and opened his dental practice . Despite the tumultuous racial climate at that time , Cooper practiced dentistry for 30 years and invested in the community through humanitarianism and Black business development , including cofounding Dallas ’ first Black bank . His final practice location was in the Knights of Pythias Temple in Deep Ellum , less than four miles from the new clinic that bears his name . The M . C . Cooper Dental Society , founded in Dallas in 1954 , is named in his honor , as is Cooper Street in South Dallas . Cooper died in 1929 .
Texas A & M University College of Dentistry ( formerly Baylor College of Dentistry ) in Dallas is a part of Texas A & M University and Texas A & M University Health Science Center ( Texas A & M Health ). 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 .
Carolyn Cox is publications manager at Texas A & M College of Dentistry , where she has been employed for 33 years . A 1986 journalism graduate of Texas Christian University , she resides in Lewisville , Texas .