There has never been a dental school in New Mexico.
But that can change if Gov. Bill Richardson gets his way.
Richardson is asking the Legislature for money to create New Mexico's first dental school at UNM.
A dental school could be costly, said Mark Moores, director of the New Mexico Dental Association.
"The New Mexico Dental Association is not opposed to having a dental school," he said. "It's a very expensive form of secondary education, and the Legislature will need to weigh that expense to the benefits of having a dental school."
The school can cost the state $48 million.
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Moores said his association offers options for New Mexico students pursuing dentistry.
It offers scholarships that allow New Mexico residents to attend a dental school while paying in-state tuition.
"They are then required to return to New Mexico to practice dentistry," he said.
A school would attract more dentists to New Mexico, said Pug Burge, associate vice president for Administration at the Health Sciences Center.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there are 616 dentists in New Mexico.
"I think it would be a really good thing for the citizens of New Mexico," Burge said. "This whole dental training program is really the governor's program, and since it's a high priority for the governor, we certainly support it."
Burge said the future of dental health in New Mexico worries him.
"A lot of the practicing dentists are getting older, and there's a lot of concern for the next generation coming along," she said. "The situation for dentists in the rural areas of New Mexico is worse."
There are other ways to attract dentists to New Mexico, Moores said.
"We would like to continue to provide incentives for medical professionals to move into rural parts of the state by providing them with tax credits, loan repayments," Moores said. "The average dental student graduating from dental school is close to $200,000 worth of debt. So loan repayments is a good option to help them."
Dr. Mike Urbane, a dentist in New Mexico, said he doubts a dental school will help bring more dentists to the rural areas of the state.
Urbane attended dental school in Milwaukee. He said most of his classmates stayed in the highly populated areas around the campus.
"I think we need to have some lifestyle incentives, some support from the health care system to the rural areas," he said. "Some of our Legislature wants to procreate money for a dental school rather than procreate money for setting up health care clinics, situations and recruiting people to those areas."
Burge said more in-state dental residencies would attract dentists to New Mexico.
"There's a lot of research that shows where health providers do their residency is where they tend to set up their practice," she said.
New Mexico offers five residency spots, Burge said.
"If we were to increase that to 10, then hopefully more of those residents would set up their practices in New Mexico to increase the number of dentists," she said.
Urbane said students pursuing dentistry don't mind going out of state for schooling, but a school in New Mexico would be a plus.
"Well, it's a little bit of a burden," he said. "But in the scheme of things, I don't think it's a problem. Of course the convenience of having one in your backyard is nice."
