Critics question need for UNLV dental school

Several schools have closed elsewhere because they were too expensive to operate.

In addition to Northwestern University's dental school closing in 2001, dental schools at Emory University, Washington University of St. Louis and Georgetown University are among at least seven that have closed in the past 10 years.

"If I were a regent, I'd want to know how much bang we'll get for our buck," said Dr. Leann Truesdale, president of the Clark County Dental Society. "Is this going to be a cost-effective thing to do?

Truesdale wonders if the tens of millions of dollars it would cost to build and operate a dental school would be put to better use by building a state clinic for needy children and senior adults. And she questions how great the demand is among Nevadans for dental education.

Regents voted unanimously in late April to ask the 1999 Legislature to set aside $12 million to build the dental school.

According to the Nevada Board of Dental Examiners, 704 dentists practice in Nevada, or one dentist per 2,418 people. The Pew Health Professions Commission estimates that there is one dentist per 1,631 people nationwide.

"I'm not sure there is a shortage here," said Dr. Ted Twesme, the board's president. "We've been granting more licenses every year."

One of the proposed dental school's chief supporters, state Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said a dental school would open up new career opportunities for "Nevada's best and brightest" at a time when the state's population is booming and the demand for dentists is on the rise.

A dental school would offer the community more care for low-income patients and more specialized care for complicated cases, Rawson said.

"I think there's a real public health interest in seeing a dental school being built in Las Vegas," he said. "The time has come. We have to take the bull by the horns at some point."

archive