New Mexico Program Improving Oral Health of Underserved Residents

The Community Voices New Mexico initiative, through the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center, is working to bring health care providers and patients together.  New Mexico is geographically the fifth largest state with two-thirds of its population living in rural areas.  However, the majority of the state's physicians practice in urban areas creating a severe health care shortage in 30 of the 33 counties.  In addition, more than 23 percent of New Mexicans have no health insurance, one of the highest rates in the United States.  The UNM Health Sciences Center is committed to building and enhancing the current health provider network so that underserved residents are no longer left behind.

One of the greatest areas of accomplishment has been in oral health.  In 1999, there was a chronic shortage of dentists in both rural and urban New Mexico.  New Mexico had no dental school and only one dental hygiene program at the University of New Mexico.  A majority of New Mexicans, especially rural residents, could not get the oral health care that they needed.

Then came Stephen Beetstra.  Wayne Powell, Project Director for Community Voices New Mexico, approached Beetstra about increasing dental outreach to rural residents.  "I was honored to take on the project," says Beetstra, chief and assistant professor with the Division of Dental Services within the Department of Surgery at the UNM's School of Medicine.  "I knew right away that we would need to attract young new dentists to the New Mexico area."

Since 1999, the fruits of Beetstra's recruitment efforts have grown from one to eight dentists.  The number of patient visits has grown from 580 in 1999 to 9,000 in 2000, and current estimates suggest that over 15,000 patient visits will be completed in 2001.  Beetstra's efforts are currently expanding to focus on serving specific underserved groups, such as American Indians and the developmentally disabled.  Many developmentally disabled New Mexicans are unable to travel great distances to visit a dental health care provider, and Beetstra has been working to bring the dentists to the patients.

Beetstra has also been working to improve dental health care in New Mexico by developing a "standard of care" to be implemented throughout the state.  Other goals for 2001 include expanding services to elderly, especially nursing home bound patients; expanding services to developmentally disabled residents, especially children; and providing mentorship to new dental health care providers in rural areas.

To learn more about the work of Community Voices New Mexico, please visit the "Explore Our Communities" section of this web site.