April 20, 2021 - Dr. Tom Jones of Carthage donated a variety of dental equipment to Panola College that will be used for hands-on skills training by the dental assisting program. The equipment – which includes dental chairs, dental tools and other instruments – came from Dr. Jones’s dental office following his retirement earlier this year.
“Panola College is extremely grateful for the equipment that was donated by Dr. Jones,” said Whitney McBee, the Workforce and Continuing Education Director at Panola College. “Each donated item will be of high value to the students in the dental assisting program, as they will be able to use the equipment for hands-on training that will help prepare them for the workforce.”
The dental assisting program, which is a part of Panola College’s Workforce and Continuing Education department, is 64 hours and takes students approximately 12 weeks to complete. Upon completion of the program, students sit for a national exam in order to become a national dental assistant.
“This donation by Dr. Jones goes above and beyond what we could have imagined,” said Cherilyn Caraway, who is a registered dental assistant and the instructor of the program. “I know that Dr. Jones has a passion for education, and we are all so appreciative of this generous gift.”
The complete list of equipment donated includes: two amalgam mixers, two autoclaves, automatic film developer, casting vibrator for pouring models, chemicals for film processor and ultrasonic, curing light, three dental chair units, three dental lights, dental x-ray units, intraoral camera system, intraoral x-ray units, restorative instruments, ultrasonic for instruments, ultrasonic scaler, x-ray equipment including film holders, and dental instruments including explorers, scalers, curettes, explorers, hemostats and suction tips.
