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 Approve the ECU Dental School
by Tom Campbell
October 26, 2006
North Carolina has a shortage of dentists. We rank 47th in the nation in the number of dentists per capita. 75 of the 100 counties in the state have a shortage of dental care. The cavity is especially wide and deep in rural sections; four counties in the east have no dentists at all. But this isn’t breaking news. We’ve known about the crisis for years and little has been done to resolve it. It is time to do so.
In the meantime we have too many people who see no dentist year after year. A lack of good dental care is often blamed for infections and diseases that include diabetes, heart disease, strokes, gum disease, and other ailments. Prevention can ward off many of these problems and reduce health care costs in the future.
The one dental school in our state, UNC Chapel Hill, admits only 80 new applicants each year. While there has been talk of expanding the number of admissions to 100, this alone will not solve the shortage. Attracting dentists from out of state is problematic because our barriers for licensure are very stringent.
We have too few dentists and not enough training capacity. The solution is clear - we need another dental school. East Carolina University, in Greenville, has long been trying to get approval to train new dentists, pledging to emphasize care for those in rural areas.
The NC Dental Society should be taking the lead in advocating better dental care prevention and expanded training for dentists, but they are sitting on the sidelines. A recent poll of their members indicates half oppose a new ECU dental school, while only 25 percent favor the expansion. They do favor expanding the admissions to UNC, no surprise since the vast majority of these members were trained there.
We would hate to believe that the opposition is due to a concern over increased competition and a resultant drop in income for practitioners if more dentists were available, yet that reason and the costs to our state of establishing a new school are the only arguments offered. We are told that a new dental school could cost as much as 50 million dollars and millions more in annual operating costs for dental clinics in which these students could practice their skills. The ECU clinics could be located in some of these rural counties without dentists. Since the state regulates this field, it has some responsibility to ensure residents can attain reasonable dental care access.
This debate is reminiscent of the harangue that took place in the 1980’s over a medical school at East Carolina. Opponents were afraid that a new school would flood the marketplace and make it difficult for existing doctors to make a reasonable living. ECU pledged to specialize in training family practitioners who would provide medical care to underserved rural areas. They have done as promised: the anticipated problems never materialized.
The ECU Dental School should be approved. Every day we delay makes the crisis more severe. The costs today could easily be less than future funding treating potential health problems for children, the elderly, and the poor. North Carolina needs more dentists.
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