Neighborhood Smiles Day
Hunt School of Dental Medicine Brightens Zavala Elementary Students’ Smiles
Dental students provide free basic services for third- through fifth-graders during first Neighborhood Smiles Day
About 40 Zavala Elementary School students left the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic Friday, Oct. 28, with clean teeth, a fresh toothbrush and a dental report card. But most importantly, they exited flashing bright, confident smiles.
First- and second-year Hunt School of Dental Medicine students teamed up for Neighborhood Smiles Day to provide free basic dental services to third- through fifth-graders from the South Central El Paso school. The dental students also gave presentations on “sugar bugs,” proper brushing techniques and healthy food choices. Both the elementary school and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso campus are part of the 79905 neighborhood, which the university strives to serve.
Not only was the event an opportunity for dental students, under the supervision of faculty, to gain clinical experience with pediatric patients, but it also introduced dozens of children to the concept of regular dental visits as a pleasant experience.
“This is all about making sure these children receive the dental care they need and that they have a good experience so they won’t hesitate to return,” said assistant professor Todd Parco, D.D.S., M.S.D., a pediatric dentistry specialist. “Those first formative years and visits are invaluable to making sure children have good dental care and are good patients who return annually. To do that, we use kindness as a cornerstone to our treatments.”
Second-year dental student Anna Ceniceros is a prime example of the impact a positive first dental visit can make. Like the Zavala students, her elementary school in Clarendon, Texas, took her to the dentist when she was 7. She was the first in her family to visit a dentist. She still remembers her heart trembling at the thought of cavities. She didn’t know what they were at the time, but she was petrified at the thought of having them.
Her dentist immediately put her at ease by complimenting her smile, and she was thrilled to learn she was cavity-free. At the end of her visit, she received a sticker with a puppy on it and rushed home to put it on her bathroom mirror for her entire family to see. For years, the sticker fed the amazement she had for dental medicine. And it remains on the mirror to this day.
“It’s amazing because I was one of these little kids,” Ceniceros said. “For some of them, it’s the first time in a dentist’s office, sitting in a chair under the bright light. Today, I put myself back in their position and did my best to calm them down and make sure they trust me, because if not, these visits can be daunting and scary.”
Just as Ceniceros was the first in her family to visit the dentist, she was also the first to attend college and dental school. She said she saw a lot of herself in her tiny patients on Friday. In a full-circle moment, she handed out stickers featuring "Teeth Rex," the newly revealed mascot of the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was a little girl, and I hope that today I inspire someone the way I was inspired,” Ceniceros said.
It was the first dental visit for fourth-grader Adyani Duarte. She said she was nervous coming in, but that her student dentist helped put her at ease and has her looking forward to another visit.
“They were very nice and made me excited to sit down,” Duarte said. “It got better as it went on. My favorite part was learning about brushing.”
Fifth-grader Dante Roland said he made a connection with his student dentist, James White, over a love of sports and couldn’t wait to get home and show his parents his dental report card.
“It was weird feeling the stuff they put in my mouth, but it was fun,” said Roland. “James was my dentist and he was cool. He likes football like I do.”
Neighborhood Smiles Day was an idea of the school's inaugural class of 40 students, including Ceniceros, and the faculty. It introduces first-year dental students into the clinical setting with real patients, while also allowing the majority of second-year students to work with children as patients. Up to this point, first-year students have not seen patients in the clinic and the majority of second-year students have seen only adult patients.
Meanwhile, second-year students play a role in teaching first-year students. Dr. Parco said it falls under the school’s philosophy of “See one, do one, teach one.”
“They’re seeing the clinical aspect put into motion,” Dr. Parco said. “Everything is a brand-new experience. They learn how to do it in our state-of-the-art Dental Learning Center and they take that information and apply it almost immediately in the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. This is how they learn and show the competency needed to test out of each unit.”
As part of efforts to improve dental care access in the community, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine offers reduced-cost services in its 38,000-square-foot public dental clinic, which sits in the long underserved 79905 ZIP code. It offers students hands-on training and an introduction to early clinical experiences among a diverse population, often times from underserved communities.
Through the clinic, students work with faculty to deliver high-quality oral health care to El Pasoans most in need. Friday’s clinic was another example of filling in those health care gaps and what better way to start than with children from the neighborhood. Providing dental services to young students both educates and empowers them and their families to be proactive with their oral health, laying the foundation to continue practicing healthy habits throughout their lifetime.
“Events like this, moments like the ones we shared today, are examples of us fulfilling our mission at TTUHSC El Paso to be a health care change-agent and bring world-class patient care to those who are underserved,” Dr. Parco said. “Providing care to children in the school district that is home to our campus makes it more accessible. These families now have a clinic for follow-up because their children are established patients.”
The Hunt School of Dental Medicine welcomed its second class earlier this year. The class of 2026 consists of 61 students who will join the inaugural class’ 40 students in the dental clinic. Since the dental school opened, students and supervising faculty have provided more than 5,200 hours of clinical care.
Health disparities
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated El Paso as a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area due to its poor access to oral health care. El Paso has only one dentist for every 4,840 residents, compared to the state average of one dentist for every 2,900 residents. More than 50 West Texas counties have no dentist at all.
Young children are even more vulnerable to poor oral health since they are in the process of losing baby teeth and growing permanent adult teeth. Unfortunately, many Texas children as young as 3 experience poor oral health due to a lack of access to dental providers. As a result, 43% of Texas children ages 3-5 have experienced tooth decay compared to 28% nationally.
“Dental cavities are the most common chronic disease in children today, more than asthma,” Dr. Parco said. “Because of cavities, students miss school with tooth pain or infections. The students we saw today were chosen on need, based on the school nurse’s evaluations.”
Because most graduating dentists establish their practices in proximity to their dental schools, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine will help alleviate the severe dental provider shortage in the Borderplex and other communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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 bridge language and cultural barriers to deliver the highest quality of bilingual care.
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 determinants 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.