The Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine has created a department of dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery that will eventually oversee three dental residents and allow the school to expand its services to the public.
The school recently announced it would partner with Cabell Huntington Hospital on a new one-year, general practice dental residency program beginning July 1. Two residents have already been chosen to participate in the program's inaugural year, and the school will begin accepting three each year next year.
"In order to maximize success of the new residency program, the School of Medicine and Marshall Health have created dedicated departments for dental residency training and the practice of dentistry," said Dr. Joseph Shapiro, dean of the school of medicine. "This new structure will allow us to address oral health disparities in our region and the serious health problems that may come as a result."
Dr. Raj Khanna, a professor and board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, will serve as the department's chairman. Khanna has served as the division chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery under the department of surgery since 2002, and said the creation of the department is meant to fill a gap in dental care for residents who may need more intensive care or who have other complex medical issues.
"I've been here 14 years with the department of surgery, and we've been so busy that it's unbelievable," he said. "We get calls every day, not just for oral surgery patients, but for normal dental patients. That gave us the idea that there was an unmet need for care in the local community and in the Tri-state area."
In West Virginia, 56 percent of children experience tooth decay by the third grade, and about 43 percent of adults between the ages of 55 and 64 have lost six or more teeth, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. In its 2016 Oral Health State Plan, the DHHR noted that "although most oral diseases are preventable, not all individuals and communities benefit fully from the available preventative measures."
West Virginia is the second most rural state in the nation, and 49 of its counties have healthcare shortages or are medically underserved. Nearly half of the state's counties have fewer than six practicing dentists; the state has 4.7 dentists for every 10,000 residents, according to DHHR.
The new department, Marshall Dentistry & Oral Surgery, will begin offering comprehensive general dental services for adults and children, including adults and children with special needs, in late summer 2016. Khanna, two other dentists and the program's residents will staff the department.
Khanna said the school hopes to prioritize West Virginia dentists and dentists who plan to practice in the state for the program. He estimates the department will be able to see between 30 and 40 patients a day once it's fully operational.
"We wanted to do something other than just another dental practice - the idea was not to just set up another dental practice inside Marshall. It was to do something special to meet the unmet need for a lot of people in the area because people just aren't comfortable treating them," he said.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.