The Greenville Tech Foundation announced Feb. 20 that the college’s dental hygiene program and clinic were awarded grants for an undisclosed sum from the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation.
The funds were used to purchase equipment and supplies, including:
- Several DXTTR III X-ray trainers – allow students to gain firsthand experience in dental anatomy, positioning and interpretation during x-ray procedures.
- An additional Nomad handheld X-ray system – used for X-ray training, remediation and patient treatment.
The program also purchased multiple innovative lasers and replaced its low-speed handpieces.
“The Greenville Technical College dental hygiene program is very grateful for the funding provided by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation to purchase equipment and supplies,” said Traci Willimon, academic program director with Greenville Technical College. “We have been given the opportunity, with this funding, to purchase equipment to train, certify and empower dental hygiene students with the most current and relevant technologies to provide the highest quality preventative and therapeutic dental care to their patients. The use of this technology and the certification of our future dental hygienists will benefit the college, the patients we serve, the dental hygiene profession and the state.”
Greenville Technical College’s dental hygiene program supports a public dental clinic where students receive direct training while providing oral health care services to low- and moderate-income individuals. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the clinic plans to provide dental care to almost 780 patients.
