All in the Family

Grateful Patients Dr. Bret and Mrs. Christina McAden are Impacting Change in the the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic and Beyond

Our parents are our first teachers. We learn to walk, talk and make decisions based off our parents’ support. For Michelle McAden, a second-year student at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, her parents’ lessons included community service.

For the past 10 years, Bret McAden, M.D., an internal medicine physician in The Woodlands, Texas, and father to Michelle, has taken his family on medical mission trips across the globe, including Haiti, where his brother runs Jerusalem Baptist Mission. During one trip, with her father as the only physician and with no dentists, Michelle saw the need for basic dental hygiene and oral health care for local patients.

“I’ve always wanted to be in health care,” said Michelle. “During the trip, I realized I wanted to become a dentist. The extreme need for oral health in underserved communities really hit home.”

Michelle now has the opportunity to care for patients as part of her training at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine’s Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. Located on the TTUHSC El Paso campus, the clinic is a state-of-the-art 38,000-square-foot facility offering dental care access for the Borderplex community and especially El Pasoans most in need. The clinic provides students hands-on treatment experience under the supervision of faculty. Patients come from the entire region, including the ZIP codes of 79905 – where the TTUHSC El Paso campus resides – and 79901, where local homeless shelters are located. In addition, the clinic has provided free services for young students of the nearby Zavala Elementary School. By receiving critically needed dental care, the Borderplex community’s health is being transformed.

Last year, Dr. McAden and his wife Christina McAden were among Michelle’s first patients at the clinic. They received exams and Dr. McAden received a filling.

“To be one of Michelle’s first patients was meaningful,” said Dr. McAden. “I felt at ease because the facility is so well-equipped. It was a pleasure to receive treatment in the new clinic and from my favorite dentist-to-be.”

“I noticed all the smiling faces,” said Christina McAden. “Everyone, from the students to the faculty, was excited to be there.”

As an underserved community, El Paso has dental patients that rarely or never receive dental care because of financial barriers. Michelle shared with her parents the tremendous need of the community. This inspired the McAdens to donate to the clinic’s Dental Patient Fund. The fund helps meet the cost of care for underserved and uninsured patients. Access to reduced-cost dental care helps residents address their oral health early and receive proper treatment before conditions worsen and become costlier. Services at the clinic include initial exams with X-rays and treatment plans, including cleanings, fillings and emergency treatment.

“As a physician, my work is stimulating and humbling at the same time. Giving back to the community, whether it be through direct service or a donation, is very rewarding,” said Dr. McAden. “We hope to have the opportunity to do more in Michelle's newfound community, which has embraced her with open arms.”

Dental students have provided more than 5,200 hours of clinical care in the clinic, and there is more to come. Michelle still has 2 1/2 years of lessons which will be learned through lectures, patient encounters and community care, and she looks forward to making a difference when she graduates.

“I’ll be actively recruiting my fellow classmates for a medical mission once we become dentists,” Michelle said.

About the Hunt School of Dental Medicine

The Hunt School of Dental Medicine offers a unique education for students through culturally competent, hands-on training and an introduction to early clinical experiences among a diverse population. As part of curriculum requirements, dental students learn medical Spanish, allowing them to deliver the highest quality of bilingual care while reducing health disparities locally and beyond the U.S-Mexico border.

A first for any dental school in the nation, Hunt School of Dental Medicine students begin clinical training and patient interaction during their first semester. Additionally, one-of-a-kind community immersion courses encourage interprofessional collaboration with Foster School of Medicine students, while also providing insight into the social influences of health in the Borderplex.

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’s designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

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, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.