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same year, Dr. Beetstra resigned, and
Dr. Cuttrell was appointed Chief of the
division. A transition year, 2009, saw
the expansion of the residency to seven
residents, and then to ten residents in
2010. The expansion was an initiative to
help the NM Higher Education Depart-
ment address the exploding needs for
dental providers in New Mexico, but the
residency was beginning to outgrow its
educational cocoon.
Building a Department
In 2011, the UNM Health Science
Center Chancellor, Dr. Paul Roth, autho-
rized the initiative to raise oral health
to departmental status. Dr. Cuttrell,
Demet ra Logothet i s, and facult y
members from both divisions created
a proposal for the new Department of
Dental Medicine. In 2010, funding was
requested to finance a new dental facility
in which to train residents. In 2011,
with aid from resource requests, North-
east and Southeast Heights closed their
doors to welcome the new, 17,000 sq.ft.,
16 operatory, Camino de Salud Dental
Clinic and dual dental operating room
UNMMG Ambulatory Surgical Center
(ASC).
After a two year preparatory period,
the ASC was awarded Department of
Health and Accreditation Association
for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)
3-year accreditation for quality of care
and patient safety. This marks the UNM
Medical Group ASC as one of the few
facilities in the nation devoted to dental
patients. With a need to further solidify
dental education in the state, and to
help advance the missions of UNM,
the divisions of Dental Hygiene and
Dental Services merged to form the
UNM Department of Dental Medicine,
a department within UNM’s School of
Medicine. The Department of Dental
Medicine is the umbrella for Novitski
Hall Dental Clinics, Camino de Salud,
and the Ambulatory Surgical Center.
In 2012, the Commission on Dental
Accreditation awarded the residency the
maximum accreditation period, seven
years, for outstanding quality and profes-
sional and ethical standards.
Dental Commitment
Ripples throughout
the State
Starting with the earlier outreach efforts
by Drs. Tatlock, Beestra, and other
faculty, as well as, a professional relation-
ship with UNM’s Family and Commu-
nit y Medicine and Wayne Powell,
Associate Director for the Institute for
Public Health, Lordsburg and Silver City
were able to recruit full-time dentists and
build new health centers equipped with
dental exam rooms.
Instrumental was Jane Batson, Dean of
Health at Eastern New Mexico Univer-
sity (ENMU)—Roswell, who with Dr.
Cuttrell and other UNM faculty, brought
comprehensive dentistry to children
in Roswell and Artesia with no payer
source; furthermore, these children were
able to benefit from general dental treat-
ments and anesthesia services in the local
hospitals. These awareness efforts lead to
approval for state funding to expand the
allied health scope at ENMU—Roswell,
which at one time housed dental hygiene
and assistant educational programs.
Over the years, professional collabora-
tions have been formed between UNM
Department of Dental Medicine and
other organizations in the community
that share the commitment to further
health in New Mexico. Like the South-
east & Northeast Heights dental clinics,
their goal was to increase access to
comprehensive care for underserved
populations. Through a partnership
with the School of Nursing, Dr. Jensen
has been an active participant in the
Interprofessional Collaboration among
Nursing, Dental Medicine, and El
Pueblo Health Services grant, as well
as teaching emergency room physicians
intraoral local anesthesia injections.
For his educational efforts, Dr. Jensen
was awarded a secondary appointment
as Professor in the College of Nursing.
From 2004 through 2015, from the 87
AEGD trained dentist at UNM, 42 have
committed their practice to public health
dentistry. Dr. Tatlock has held the posi-
tion of UNM Academic Advisor for the
Pre-Dental Society for the past six years
and has been active teaching undergrad-
uate freshman courses, Dental Health
Professions and Career Awareness
Seminars focusing on dentistry. He has
written around 150 letters of recommen-
dation for UNM Pre-Dental students,
with many of those dentists retuning
to serve dental needs in New Mexico.
Furthermore, Drs. Cuttrell, Jensen, and
Tatlock serve as leaders in New Mexico
to support dental public policy and as
members for various state committees.
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