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New Mexico Dental Journal, Summer 2015
OOH
New Mexico Dental Support Center (NMDSC)
By Rudy Blea, OOH Program Director
I
n 2009, the New Mexico Depart-
ment of Health received a grant
from the Health Resources and
Services Administration to establish
a New Mexico Dental Support Center
(NMDSC) for the purpose of increasing
the number of appropriately trained
and culturally competent oral health
providers. The NMDSC has accom-
plished its goals of providing training
and technical suppor t for dent al
providers serving in rural areas and
community health clinics, and a center
of support and network of communica-
tion for dental educators throughout the
state. Upon completion of the grant,
the Department of Health has provided
the necessary funding to support this
important program supporting the New
Mexico dental provider workforce.
T h e NMD S C m a i n t a i n s i t s
communicat ion and informat ion
di sseminat ion net work of dent a l
providers to notify them of continuing
education opportunities, vacancies and
other pertinent information.
The NMDSC continues to partner
with the NM Primary Care Association
(NMPCA) to develop and disseminate
a monthly newsletter which includes a
calendar of events, information specific
to New Mexico, as well as new clinical
research and national dental news.
The NMDSC provides continuing
education opportunities for network
providers. NMDSC partners with New
Mexico Health Resources (NMHR),
Inc. (a private, non-profit agency which
is organized to support efforts to recruit
and retain health care personnel in
NM) to plan the annual NMHR Taos
Retreat. In addition, the NMSDC
offers scholarships for dentists, dental
hygienists and dental residents to attend
the Retreat. Last year 27 scholarships
were awarded. Four providers committed
to serving the special needs population
were awarded scholarships to attend the
Special Care Dentistry Conference in
Denver in March 2015.
The NMDSC continues to partner
with the NMPCA to provide quarterly
meetings for network providers. The
meetings, which are usually held at
the NMPCA in Albuquerque, include
updates from the dental clinics/offices
of the attendees, the State Office of Oral
Health, NMDA, and Health Action
New Mexico, as well as networking
over a complimentary lunch. This past
year presentations were provided on the
Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary
(EFDA) program at Santa Fe Community
College, Community Dental Health
Coordinator (CDHC) program at Central
