Marathon Petroleum Gives $50,000 to Hunt School of Dental Medicine in Celebration of World Smile Day

Newswise — EL PASO, Texas – The Hunt School of Dental Medicine and the Marathon Petroleum go together like brushing and flossing. They’re both working to ensure El Pasoans have good oral health.

With a generous $50,000 gift announced Wednesday, Oct. 5, Marathon Petroleum is continuing its support of the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic, the clinical practice of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. As part of efforts to improve the accessibility of oral health care in the community, Hunt School of Dental Medicine faculty and students work together in the clinic to deliver reduced-cost, high-quality oral health care to Borderplex residents.

Marathon Petroleum’s gift will go toward the clinic’s Dental Patient Fund and will assist underserved and uninsured patients with the cost of dental services. Marathon’s investment will provide access to care for Borderplex residents, especially families in the 79905 and 79901 ZIP codes near the clinic, who might not otherwise have resources for quality dental care. Access to the clinic’s services will allow residents to address oral health early and receive treatment before conditions worsen and become costlier.

TTUHSC El Paso also announced partnerships with the Opportunity Center for the Homeless and The Rescue Mission of El Paso — both located in the 79901 ZIP code. With help from the Dental Patient Fund, residents of both organization’s shelters will receive dental care and education that will empower them to take charge of their health, which will help as they move toward re-entering the local workforce.

The Opportunity Center for the Homeless exists for all homeless individuals to support and help them to move beyond their condition if they are capable; or protect them if they cannot improve their condition in society because of emotional or psychological disorders.

The Rescue Mission of El Paso provides love, compassion, humble and selfless service to the needy and disabled in a safe, trusting and nurturing environment.

Marathon Petroleum has been a key community partner in helping the school and clinic expand its ability to provide services. The company has supported important public health education opportunities for Hunt School of Dental Medicine students, in addition to ensuring residents of our Borderplex region have access to high-quality dental care. Marathon Petroleum’s gift of $30,000 in summer 2021 established the Dental Patient Fund, which has already helped improve the lives of patients residing in the 79905 ZIP code, home to its El Paso refinery and the TTUHSC El Paso campus. The $30,000 grant served 391 patients and services included screenings, patient education and follow-up procedures at the clinic.

“Public health and community engagement are central to our school’s mission and essential in preparing students to practice in underserved Texas communities,” said Richard Black, D.D.S., M.S., dean of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. “Marathon’s gift will allow us to host community clinics essential to preparing our students for careers treating patients and educating them on lifelong healthy habits.”

The clinics also provide students with the opportunity to learn more about the residents who live in nearby neighborhoods and their oral health care needs.

Historically, residents throughout West Texas have had difficulty finding affordable care, leading to poor dental health and conditions that can quickly become serious. In El Paso in particular, only 50% of residents visited a dentist in 2017.

“It’s exciting to see so many wonderful partners come together for this community. We’re all neighbors, but it goes much deeper than that,” said V.J. Smith, stakeholder engagement manager for Marathon Petroleum. “As we’ve built a relationship over the years, we’ve discovered – both TTUHSC El Paso and Marathon Petroleum – that we have a passion for making meaningful investments in the community that are measurable. This is an investment not only for the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, but for the community and residents nearby.”

The Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic opened its doors for patients in fall 2021. Since then, the school’s inaugural class of students and supervising faculty have experienced nearly 2,000 patient visits for screening and treatment and more than 4,800 hours of clinical care.

Soon, second-year Hunt School of Dental Medicine students will work with faculty to produce dentures for patients in need using digital technology. The advanced technology allows the clinic to manufacture dentures on-site, cutting down on time and cost.

Sydnye Fields, a member of the school’s inaugural class, said the best part of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine’s curriculum is early clinic experience for students. Events like Marathon Community Clinics allow Fields and her peers to get hands-on experience while also providing care to those in need.

“There’s no other dental school in the country that has students seeing patients in their first semester, which is what makes us unique,” Fields said. “Many students graduate from dental school thinking they didn’t get enough clinic time and do not feel completely prepared as they enter the workforce. I’m confident that with my education from the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, I’ll be prepared because of my experience caring for patients early on.”

Fields said it has been great getting to know so many people from the El Paso community and providing services to them in an area nationally recognized as underserved.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated El Paso as a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area. El Paso has only one dentist for every 4,840 residents, compared to the state average of one dentist for every 2,900 residents. More than 50 West Texas counties have no dentist at all.

The opening of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine will help bridge those oral health disparities. Of the 101 students at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, 42% hail from New Mexico, West Texas and border regions of Texas, including El Paso County.

Because most graduating dentists establish their practices in proximity to their dental schools, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine will help alleviate the severe shortage of dentists in the Paso del Norte region and in counties along the Texas-Mexico border.

“As we continue to learn and grow in our clinical skills to offer more services, I cannot wait to see how we’ll change the lives of those around us for the better,” Fields said.

Patients can call the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic at 915-215-6700 to book a screening appointment for dentures or reduced-cost care.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum focuses its investments on core areas where it can make a positive, measurable impact, including STEM education and initiatives that increase access to high-quality educational training and career readiness resources.

About the Hunt School of Dental Medicine

The Hunt School of Dental Medicine is the first dental school on the U.S.-Mexico border, and the first in Texas in over 50 years. The school offers a unique education for students through culturally competent, hands-on training, and is the first and only dental school in the nation that requires Spanish-language courses to bridge language and cultural barriers for the delivery of high-quality oral health care.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.- Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It is designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an autonomous university within the Texas Tech University System. In those 10 years, the university has graduated nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, soon adding dentists to its alumni.

Photos: https://ttuhscep.box.com/s/q8g79z9yrzjbap2l001i576dzy75k7cz