Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso plans to open the fourth dental school in Texas with a $25 million gift from the El Paso-based Hunt Family Foundation.
Here's what you need to know:
1. The new dental school will be named the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
2. This project will be the first dental school in west Texas. The other three dental schools in Texas are located more than 500 miles away from El Paso.
3. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated El Paso County a dental health professional shortage area, and less than half of El Paso adults visit the dentist for annual care.
"Our immediate goal is to attract bright medical talent and young men and women who are eager to stay in El Paso to practice dentistry," said Woody Hunt, chairman of the Hunt Family Foundation. "In the longer term, the school will help alleviate oral health problems in our region."