College Trustees Support Dental Hygiene Program

Hoping to boost enrollment by creating new programs, trustees of the county’s community colleges have unanimously agreed to move forward with plans to establish a dental hygiene program at Oxnard College.

Acting quickly to meet the application deadline for American Dental Assn. accreditation, trustees Tuesday night approved the program in concept and asked for a formal proposal outlining costs by March.

Six dentistry professionals, including the mayor of Port Hueneme, urged trustees to approve the program, pointing to a tremendous need in Ventura County for qualified dental hygienists.

“California is licensing approximately one half the number of hygienists each year that we are licensing dentists,” Robert E. Turner, a former trustee of the California Dental Assn., told the board. “Given the shortage of hygienists, we believe there is a significant opportunity for community colleges to provide an extremely valuable service to the dental profession in the communities they serve.”

According to a recent report by a Santa Barbara think tank on the need for such training in the area, the program could attract as many as 970 students from Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The nearest dental hygiene programs are at Pasadena City College and West Los Angeles College.

If the program is approved by the American Dental Assn., Oxnard College could be offering courses in dental hygiene by August 1997, Chancellor Philip Westin said.

Trustees hailed the idea, saying it would help the district boost enrollment.

“We shouldn’t drag our feet on this any longer,” Trustee Timothy Hirschberg said. “The is an investment in the future and the community. Lots of young people are looking for careers, and we want them to look to our colleges for that.”