Touro College of Dental Medicine breaks ground on a new dental training facility.
(Courtesy of Touro University) Touro University broke ground on a clinical branch of Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) in New Mexico last week. This clinical facility will be located in Albuquerque on the campus of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute (LBRI), a member of Touro University. With a planned opening in May 2025, Touro Dental Health New Mexico is TCDM’s clinical training facility that will provide a new dental practice location for 200 students.
“Touro is thrilled to expand to New Mexico and create the first ultra-modern, world-class dental clinical training facility in the state. Our mission is to improve oral health care and graduate outstanding dental professionals who deliver excellent healthcare service to diverse communities,” said Dr. Alan Kadish, Touro president. “With the first predoctoral dental student clinical educational facility in New Mexico, we will provide an opportunity to deliver much needed low-cost oral health care to underserved communities.”
Students at TCDM will spend their first two years in the classroom studying basic biological sciences and the last two years seeing patients in the clinics. Going forward, 100 students from each TCDM class of 200 will do the classroom portion of their training on TCDM’s New York campus and spend their final two years treating patients from the Albuquerque community in the new clinical facility. The first class to be split in this way is looking forward to a spring 2025 arrival and to seeing patients under highly skilled faculty, supported by professional dental staff from New Mexico.
New Mexico lags behind the nation in the average number of oral healthcare professionals servicing residents of the state. Recent studies reveal that the number of dentists per 100,000 people in New Mexico is only 48.4, below the national average of 60.84.
Touro Dental Health New Mexico will encompass more than 70,000 square feet of educational and clinical space. It will house more than 100 dental units to provide specialty care in oral surgery, orthodontics, endodontics and pediatric dentistry accommodating the students who will complete their education at TCDM’s new facility and campus.
TCDM’s faculty of general dentists and highly-skilled specialists including periodontists, prosthodontists, endodontists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, dental anesthesiologists and radiologists will enable the school to provide a full-range of dental care under one roof while providing students with hands-on exposure to and training in all dental disciplines.
TCDM’s new dental college and clinic builds on the success of the New York campus and will offer educational opportunities to students to serve diverse communities. The students in New Mexico will receive the same high level of academic support and student services, faculty to student ratios, educational facilities and clinical experiences.
