Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

SANTA FE – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and Governor Bill Richardson today took the first step toward bringing a dental school to New Mexico.

Bingaman and Richardson unveiled plans for a feasibility study that will determine where to locate a dental school in the state.  Bingaman secured $95,000 for the study, and Richardson is making funding from the state available to pay for the remainder of the cost. 

The need for a school of dentistry in New Mexico is clear.  According to New Mexico Con Alma Healthcare, New Mexico was 49th in the nation in number of dentists per resident New Mexico.  While the national average is 64 dentists per 100,000 residents, in New Mexico there are just 34 dentists per 100,000 residents.  Several New Mexico counties have no dentist at all.  This shortage translates into real health problems for New Mexicans. 

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only about half of New Mexican children had a medical and dental preventive health care provider visit in 2003.  In addition, half of New Mexican children ages 5-17 have at least one cavity.  The average wait time reported for a child's dental appointment in New Mexico is three months.  The situation is also very serious for adults.  A 2006 New Mexico Department of Health survey found that about a third of adults did not visit a dentist, dental hygienist, or dental clinic in the past year, and a little less than half of adults had one or more teeth extracted due to dental disease.

“Despite our state’s overwhelming need for dentists, there are a number of students who leave New Mexico each year to study dentistry elsewhere.  This is a problem we have been trying to solve for many years.  I believe if we open a school of dentistry here in New Mexico, students would chose to study and stay here, and help us begin addressing a serious unmet medical need in our state,” Bingaman said. 

“Having a School of Dentistry would increase the number of dentists and oral hygienists in New Mexico -- in urban and rural areas.  This feasibility study puts New Mexico one step closer to getting a School of Dentistry – and closing the crucial gap of oral health needs in our state,” Richardson said.

Now that funding is being made available for a feasibility study, the next step is to issue a request for proposals (RFP).