Renovations Underway at MCC Dental Clinics

Renovations are underway at Middlesex Community College’s dental clinics. In fall 2019, construction began to equip the clinics with high-end materials, resources and experiences that students can use as they proceed into the workforce or continue their education to bachelor and advanced degrees.

These enhancements benefit students not only for lesson planning purposes, but by allowing them to provide care and assistance to the ever expanding community the school serves.

Karen Townsend, MCC’s Director of Dental Hygiene Education, believes the renovations will offer students a safer, more functional space. The updates also enable Middlesex to grow their program.

“Updating the clinic equipment will make our students’ experience much more relevant to how they will practice once they leave us, allowing us to improve our curriculum to meet current and emerging standards of care,” she said.

Since opening in the 1990s, parts of the dental clinics were updated in 2011, but the equipment being used in the operatories was old. Faculty and staff had to be creative with resources despite discontinued and unfixable parts.

Townsend is excited by the steps Middlesex is taking to keep up with this growing field.

“As with any field, dentistry is largely being influenced by technology as well as more sophisticated engineering of dental equipment and treatment methodologies,” Townsend said. “As more literature emerges about how oral health is truly part of overall health and wellness, more is learned about how to treat diseases of the mouth in the best way possible.”

The Dental Assisting and Dental Hygiene programs develop the skills and knowledge necessary to assist at chairside in the dental environment – and according to students in the program, their work is all about the 600-800 patients the clinics treat each year.

MCC Dental Hygiene program graduate Lily Chung found her time in the clinic to be essential to her overall experience at the college.

“The dental clinic allows students to treat patients and this helps students to build a rapport with patients,” Chung said. “Also, it allows students to have the opportunity to treat patients similar to the real world experience.”

The impending enhancements will add value to the patient’s experience, including to the patients students care for as part of The Dental Hygiene Community Outreach Experience. Aiming to improve the dental health of Lowell’s underserved populations, the program includes partnerships with local schools, senior centers, state hospitals and local prisons.

Outside of the Outreach Experience, the affordability of services allows students access to more patients and patients access to services they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Townsend described the dental clinics’ renovations to comply with HIPAA (patient privacy), OSHA (safety), ADA accessibility and the Department of Public Health standards. The former two sterilization rooms will be combined into one functional space. There will be 24 complete patient treatment areas with patient and clinician chairs, front and rear dental delivery systems and new computers, LED dental lights, access to integrated intraoral cameras and integrated power-driven scalers, as well as cabinetry and storage spaces.

The dental assisting clinic – located on the second floor – is updating five patient treatment areas with front and rear delivery systems and CAD technology for dental laboratory technology.

“As more is understood about injuries common to dental practitioners, equipment is made with a mind to improve ergonomics while working,” Townsend said. “Our new equipment will significantly increase the comfort and work efficiency due to improved ergonomic design.”

The renovations are thanks to a Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant for $499,254. The program will also be kickstarting a fundraising campaign to raise additional funds.

With advancements being made in dental science, MCC is taking advantage of the opportunity to grow its dental programs, providing students with an innovative education and caring for the surrounding community.

“The clinic renovation will allow increased accessibility for individuals with disabilities, improved patient and student privacy, may potentially allow the clinic to obtain a DPH license to accept MassHealth and other dental insurance, allows students to learn and work in a state-of-the-art facility,” Townsend said. “And in the future, enrollment could be increased.”

Visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/dentalprograms/ to learn more about MCC’s Dental Programs.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, we educate, engage and empower a diverse community of learners. MCC offers more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses – on our campuses in Bedford and Lowell, and online. Middlesex Community College: Student success starts here!