Manor College’s Dental Health Center completed a total overhaul this summer that will allow the clinic to expand services to even more patients.
“It’s exciting,” said Jaime Simpson, director of the Dental Health Center. “The modernized clinic equipment with updated technology ensures students are learning on state-of-the-art equipment while patients receive care in a refreshed, welcoming and comfortable environment.”
Manor’s Dental Health Center was established in 1980 for the Expanded Functions Dental Assisting program, and expanded in the late 1990s with the inception of Manor’s Dental Hygiene program.
In the 2025-26 fiscal year, the Dental Health Center had more than 3,200 total visits from nearly 900 patients. Of those, about 75 percent of the patients do not have health insurance, relying solely on the center to receive cleaning, exams and other routine care.
“Providing both preventative hygiene and restorative dental care fundamentally transforms a patient’s overall medical health, daily function and financial stability,” Simpson said. “Access to supervised student restorative and hygiene services creates a complete safety net that tackles systemic disease at the root.”
In addition to upgraded technology, new machines and cosmetic upgrades, the renovation will add two additional dental chairs, increasing the center’s capacity from seven dental stations to nine. This will not only increase the ability to serve more patients, but increase enrollment in Manor’s Dental Hygiene program from 14 students to 18.
Carolyn Hagan, a Dental Hygiene student from Media, said the new stations will allow her to focus more on patient care.
“This will only help for the better,” Hagan said. “Our old units were starting to wear out, including one moment where I needed 30 minutes of patient time to fix a problem. I’m looking forward to figuring out the new setup collaboratively with our staff.”
The renovations were made possible thanks to an LSA grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The grant, which is in excess of $625,000, comes from the Pennsylvania Local Share Account grant program that distributes gaming revenue for public-interest and community improvement projects.
The prior dental equipment has been donated to clinics in Kenya and Ukraine.
The improvements were made before Manor College welcomed its incoming class for the Fall 2026 semester. ••
