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New Dental Arts building receives emotional opening ceremony in Baltimore County
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Baltimore County (Map, News) - Standing in the shade of a large white tent, Sen. Norman Stone gazed around, smiled in admiration of supporters and shook his head in disbelief.
“I cannot begin to explain the way the feel right now,” said Stone, a Democrat representing Baltimore County’s 6th District. “I’m usually not an emotional person, but when we sat down two years ago, this project was just a twinkle in our eyes.”
On Wednesday afternoon, The Community College of Baltimore County at Dundalk held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor the opening of a new Dental Arts facility, which will start classes in September. The facility, which cost $2.6 million to build, contains a 20 station main clinic, four radiology suites and a 10 seat radiology interpretation room, according to a CCBC release.
The facility is designed for a small number of students, but that number looks to grow in the near future. “Basically, we have room for about forty students. We will start with twenty, but over several years we hope that will grow,” said school spokeswoman Jacquie Lucy, “It’s a beautiful facility, and we have all sorts of state of the art training tools"
Patient simulators are among the advanced tools found in the building, allowing students to conduct x-ray procedures on life-like subjects, Lucy said.
The new program also caters to the dental needs of the surrounding area’s residents.
“The intent is that this new program will be a community clinic,” said Lucy, “The response from the community has been very positive. Dundalk is very supportive of CCBC as a whole, and this has been tremendous for them.”
The new Dental Arts building not only tends to students and local residents, but it also helps the field of dental hygiene.
“There is a need for dental hygienists in Baltimore County,” said Stone, “and this program is going to help in filling those needs.”
The new building and its modern technology couldn’t have been possible without the financial support from various donors, whom CCBC President Dr. Sandra L. Kurtinitis thanked during a speech.
“We love that you love us, and we love you back,” said Kurtinitis.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, handshakes and hugs were given by donors and spectators alike. But it was the political figures in attendance that seemed to be the most satisfied.
“This is my 46th year in office and I remember when this was trying to be shut down,” said Stone, “To see this today, and for it to take only two years to do it; that has to be some kind of record.”
