Finally, we’re growing our own dental professionals

Saturday, May 13, 2006 | 7:07 a.m.

After 22 years cleaning teeth as a dental hygienist, Las Vegas resident Kelly Dunay has finally earned the right to get her hands on a drill.

Dunay, 47, is one of 71 dentists graduating today from UNLV's School of Dental Medicine, the first commencement for the start-up dental school.

The graduation is important not just for UNLV, which launched most of its professional programs in the last decade, but for dental care in Southern Nevada. The region is also benefiting by the graduation Monday of the first dozen Bachelor of Science students in dental hygiene from the Community College of Southern Nevada.

As the only programs of their kind in Nevada, the dental degrees are crucial to improving access to care, said UNLV Dean Pat Ferrillo and CCSN program director Patricia Gerber.

Southern Nevada trails most states in the number of dentists per capita, according to the American Dental Association, and needs to provide greater dental-care access to low-income and Medicaid patients.

In addition to graduating 71 students, the dental school's students have seen 215,000 patients since clinics opened in fall 2002, Ferrillo said.

The bachelor's degree in dental hygiene is also crucial to meeting needs in education and public health where there is a high demand for trained professionals, Gerber said. CCSN, for instance, needs more instructors for its associate's degree program in dental hygiene.

Dental hygienists need only associate's degrees to practice, but they need bachelor's degrees or higher to teach future hygienists and work in public health settings, Gerber said. That includes sending mobile dental clinics to low-income or rural communities.

The bachelor's degree also allows hygienists to branch into research or dental marketing areas, Gerber said.

At least 20 percent of UNLV's dental graduates will practice in Las Vegas, assuming they pass their exams for state licenses, Ferrillo said. Some are also enrolling in UNLV's new orthodontics specialty program, or into residencies at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Three or four students have also applied to work as clinical faculty, training first-year students.

The rest of the graduating students will pursue specialty programs elsewhere.

Dunay, who plans to enroll in UNLV's orthodontics program, said the dental school has opened a second career for her. She started at UNLV the same day her son started kindergarten.

Participating in the new program - and being part of the first class - was an adventure, Dunay said . There were some frustrations as UNLV worked to develop the program, but "overall it has been an excellent experience and I don't regret it one bit."

Dunay plans to open her own private practice. She also wants to teach at the dental school "and give back what was given to me."

Cathy Peterson, 43, who has spent 15 years as a dental hygienist, entered CCSN's bachelor's degree program in order to work in public health, particularly in rural areas where there is no access to care.

"To develop a program that can reach these children is an ultimate goal of mine," said Peterson, who is applying for a master's degree program in rural public health from Idaho State University. Like CCSN's bachelor's degree program, the Idaho degree is completely online, allowing her to keep working as she earns her degree.

Students coming into the program must be licensed dental technicians who have already completed the clinical portions of their education, Gerber said. The bachelor's degree program teaches students how to put that clinical knowledge to work in either education or public health.

The Board of Regents allowed the two-year community college to offer the four-year degree because it was the only public college in Southern Nevada teaching dental hygiene and prepared to meet the need for a bachelor's degree.

Fifty-six students are enrolled in CCSN's two-year-old program, including dental hygienists from Hawaii, California, Arizona and Minnesota.

About 300 students are enrolled in the UNLV dental school, with 2,800 applicants applying for 75 open spots this fall.

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