Key Points

• The Hunt School of Dental Medicine at Texas Tech Health El Paso is expanding outreach to underserved local families through its oral health clinic.
• Now in its fourth year, a fund established by Marathon Petroleum’s El Paso refinery has provided free dental care at the clinic to more than 1,200 children and adults.
• The fund will underwrite another free dental event later this year for more underserved patients, including many who have never visited a dentist.

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Community outreach at Texas Tech Health El Paso includes initiatives that allow dental students to provide free treatment to underserved families, emphasizing a manner of care that goes beyond meeting immediate oral health needs.

“If you can make the experience of a child coming to the dentist a positive one, it works for a lifetime,” said Richard Black, D.D.S., M.S., founding dean of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine at Texas Tech Health El Paso. “That’s one of the things we train our students to do.”

Grant funding from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) El Paso refinery helps make free services possible during scheduled events at the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic. Since the school opened in 2021, the Marathon Dental Patient Fund has provided more than 1,200 underserved children and adults with free cleanings, x-rays, screenings, dental care kits and follow-up dental care. Many of the recipients had never visited a dentist or had a dental home.

“Marathon’s fund allows us to combat challenges to accessibility and affordability. Without this support, we wouldn’t be able to offer these services.”

“I want to be a dentist when I grow up to make people smile, make them happy, and clean their teeth so they can smile every day,” said 10-year-old Marco, one of many children who have benefited from MPC’s fund.

Texas Tech Health El Paso Corporate & Foundation Relations Senior Director Janine Young cited data from the Texas Department of State Health Services to illustrate the needs that MPC’s partnership helps meet. According to the agency, El Paso County has one dentist for every 3,053 residents, compared to one for every 1,750 in comparable Texas counties. 

“Marathon’s fund allows us to combat challenges to accessibility and affordability. Without this support, we wouldn’t be able to offer these services,” Young said.

The Hunt School of Dental Medicine is planning the next free dental event at the Oral Health Clinic for later this year. MPC will underwrite this event through its fund, which the company augmented with a $50,000 grant in late 2024.

Young noted that MPC’s steady assistance over the past four years has prompted additional financial support from foundations, individuals and other companies in the El Paso area.

“Our most recent gift from a local company established its own dental patient fund and was inspired by the example of Marathon as a corporate partner,” she said. "All these additional gifts and grants were made possible because of the foundational grant provided by Marathon.”