Funding pursued for dental school

Art Nadler

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998 | 11:15 a.m.

While in some parts of the country keeping dental schools open is like pulling teeth, educators in Southern Nevada say the task here would be much easier.

The Board of Regents will seek funding from the Legislature to build a $12.7 million dental school at a site on the Community College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston campus. The estimated annual operating cost would be about $6 million, and the school would be part of the UNLV program.

"We are excited about this opportunity to develop another professional degree program at UNLV," said Carol Harter, university president, in a written statement. "Providing education and research programs that address community and regional needs are an important part of UNLV's long-range plan."

Critics of the school, such as Mark Alden, a member of the Board of Regents, say they want a dental school but are concerned how the funding needs will be met. He says he doesn't want to see UNLV undergraduate programs suffer.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, a dentist for 30 years, thinks state Medicaid funds might be a source of revenue. He also sees the school as a resource in caring for the state's uninsured population.

Dr. Richard Weaver, an analyst of education policy with the American Association of Dental Schools in Washington, D.C., said a dental school in Nevada could draw applicants from states such as Arizona, New Mexico and Utah that don't have schools. Only California serves the West Coast, he said.

"This (out-of-state tuition) could pay for the school," Weaver said. "And schools that are state-supported provide care to under-served populations (in rural areas.)"

Arguments that some dental schools are closing and that demand for dentists is dwindling are not legitimate, Weaver said, claiming that both situations are surrounded by special circumstances.

Christy Weiss, associate dean of student affairs at Northwestern University Dental School in Evanston, Ind., said that school will close in May 2001 after 106 years. Weiss said the dental school was not self-sufficient. Similar problems, she said, arose at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma; and Farleigh Dickenson College in New Jersey. These institutions also closed their doors.

"Two years ago, we had 2,400 applicants for 75 positions," Weiss said of today's demand. "As a private dental school, we had a lot of students from the West Coast."

Both Weiss and Weaver said self-regulation was the reason dental-school enrollments slowed in the 1980s. Weiss said students' interests turned to law and business curriculums during that period.

Dental schools, she said, also decided to make class sizes smaller in an effort to tighten requirements.

Dr. Jim Koelbl, group associate executive director with the American Dental Association, said federal funding cuts to dental schools also played a hand in many closures. In the 1970s, there was a lot of federal money floating around, he said.

"Whether there is a shortage or surplus of dentists is a localized issue," Weaver said. "Since 1989, applicants to dental schools have gone up 100 percent, but enrollment has only gone up 10 percent. Some areas are more saturated with dentists than others."