Dental Programs Creating New Smiles and New Outlooks

• Dental schools in two states are reaching underserved populations with dental care they otherwise might not get as a result of grants from Marathon Petroleum Corporation.
• Funding in El Paso, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, has provided free access to dental care for more than a thousand people, including a homeless man who had never visited a dentist.
• It’s the second consecutive year Marathon has supported outreach by the two schools.

When a 28-year-old man with a history of gang involvement entered a homeless shelter in El Paso, Texas, he had never been in a dentist’s chair. He needed molars removed and recently received care through free services provided by the Hunt School of Dental Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Now, the man is on a new path forward.

“He had a strong will to improve himself, got the dental work he needed, and everything changed,” said John Martin, director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless. “He now helps at our facility, volunteering to pick up items for elderly individuals who can’t go to the store. He has an outlook on life that is so positive.”

This man’s treatment came through the Marathon Dental Patient Fund that Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) established when the dental school opened in 2021. MPC has provided a total of $80,000 in grants that continue to provide free access to the school’s clinic for children and adults from underserved areas near the company’s El Paso refinery. After two outreach events at the clinic earlier this year, the fund has now made a total of 672 patient visits possible. 

Parallel effort in Utah

In Salt Lake City, MPC is assisting a similar program in partnership with the Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine. On Aug. 4, the school’s clinical practice, Roseman Dental, will provide free dental screenings and cleanings for children and teens 18 and younger from qualifying low-income households.

It is the second of two free opportunities this year funded by a $50,000 grant from MPC. During the first event in February, Roseman students provided care to more than 500 children and teens. 2023 is the second consecutive year MPC has supported Roseman’s work in the community. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show an average of 34 million school hours are lost each year in the U.S. because of the need for unplanned or emergency dental care by students.