Historic Fourth Class
Hunt School of Dental Medicine Welcomes Fourth Inaugural Cohort During Annual White Coat Ceremony
With 52% of the class of 2028 from West Texas and Texas border region, Texas Tech Health El Paso addressing critical shortage of dental providers along U.S.-Mexico border
EL PASO, Texas — A bad experience at the dentist can shape a patient’s view for years. Thankfully, so can a good experience.
Both helped put El Pasoan Mark Casteel on the path to becoming a dentist. Minutes before Casteel would accept his first white coat, he recalled how both of those experiences molded him.
“When I started off as a kid, I actually had a bad experience with my first dentist, and luckily that didn't have an effect on me,” Casteel said. “But when I went to my new dentist, I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. I thought to myself, ‘I just want to do what he does.’ I want to be a dentist in El Paso because I hear so many times how critical the need is here in my hometown."
On Saturday, Aug. 24, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine welcomed the class of 2028 in a white coat ceremony held at Texas Tech Health El Paso. The annual event is a symbolic milestone in the students' journey to becoming dentists.
The class of 2028 is part of the historic first four inaugural classes to enter the school since it opened in 2021. The inaugural class will graduate in 2025.
The white coat ceremony marks one of the first and most influential milestones in a health care provider’s education. It symbolizes professionalism and compassion in the field of dental medicine.
Richard Black, D.D.S., M.S., dean of the Hunt School of Medicine, alongside faculty, presented all 60 dental students in the class of 2028 with their first white coats. The students took an oath acknowledging and reaffirming their promise to serve patients, enhance community health and deliver quality oral health care throughout their careers.
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine's class of 2028 is distinguished by its diversity and unique background. Of the 60 students, 57% are first-generation college students, and 63% are multilingual. As part of the school’s continued commitment to addressing our Borderplex region’s provider shortage, 52% of the class comes from West Texas and the Texas border region, including 10 individuals from El Paso County and Southern New Mexico.
Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., M.Ed., president of the American Dental Association, delivered opening remarks and Adela Cabrera, D.D.S., of El Paso, delivered the keynote address. Dr. Cabrera has been an active member of the El Paso Dental Society, American Dental Association, and Texas Dental Association for 22 years. She was a five-year delegate to the Texas Dental Association and served on the board of the El Paso Dental Society for over 10 years, holding the position of president in 2011. Dr. Cabrera has provided oral care for El Pasoans for more 25 years.
“If you want to be successful in dentistry and in life, care about your patients as if they were your family,” Dr. Edgar told the students as one of her pearls of wisdom she’d learned over the years.
Over the past four years, Ed Anderson, CEO of Diversified Interiors, has inspired others to give by doubling the support for white coat sponsorships through his matching funds. For over 40 years, Diversified Interiors has delivered top-quality finishing work on commercial buildings across West Texas, southern New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona, with additional projects in California and Nevada.
Joining Anderson were many generous individuals and group sponsors, several without direct ties to the university, who demonstrate their belief and trust in our future oral health care leaders. Thanks to their collective support, every white coat given to our students was sponsored by our gracious donors.
The induction into the dental profession though the white coat ceremony takes place at most of the 68 accredited dental schools across the U.S. The ceremony echoes the Hunt School of Dental Medicine’s mission to provide world-class patient care while embracing the unique needs and culture of our Borderplex community.
In a break with the traditions of American dental schools, students in the Hunt School of Dental Medicine take their pledge in both Spanish and English. The school is also the first and only in the nation that requires Spanish language courses, paving the way for the students to provide bilingual health care and serve diverse communities.
Addressing Shortage of Dental Providers
The shortage of dental providers along the U.S.-Mexico border has significant and tangible impacts on the underserved communities in our region. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over 5,800 Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas exist nationwide, with a significant concentration along the border. These areas lack sufficient dental care providers, leading to a ratio of only one dentist for every 5,000 individuals in some border regions.
Limited access to dental care exacerbates oral health issues. There is a 40% higher prevalence of untreated dental decay among children in these areas compared to the national average. This deficit in care not only hampers their quality of life but also underscores the systemic inequalities in health care access that persist in these vulnerable communities.
Training dentists in the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso is a strategic solution to our Borderplex’s prevailing dental care shortage. By focusing educational resources within the community, institutions such as the Hunt School of Dental Medicine can cultivate professionals deeply familiar with local needs and cultural nuances. This approach will address the dental provider-to-population ratio imbalance, as about 75% of graduates are likely to practice within the community in which they trained.
About the Hunt School of Dental Medicine
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine opened in 2021 and is the only dental school on the U.S.-Mexico border, and the first in Texas to open in more than 50 years. The school offers the most innovative curriculum in the country, preparing students for the future of dentistry with high-tech simulation and an advanced fabrication laboratory. A first for any dental school in the nation, students begin clinical training and patient interaction during their first semester.
As upward of 75% of dental school graduates open practices near their dental schools, Hunt School of Dental Medicine graduates are expected to address the oral health care needs along the U.S.-Mexico border for generations to come.
About Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health 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 a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation students.
Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a proudly diverse and uniquely innovative destination for education and research.
With a mission of eliminating health care barriers and creating life-changing educational opportunities for Borderplex residents, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, and will add dentists to its alumni beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.