How to Get Cheap Dental Work
Within the US and Canada there are over 60 dental schools which provide inexpensive dental treatment. With locations all over the US from Louisville, New York City, Ft Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Omaha, and Chapel Hill, it is very likely there is a school nearby. If you are looking for quality dental care at a cheap price, consider getting your dental work done at a dental school. As with all decisions, there are many factors to consider. Read below to learn what is most important when considering care at a dental school.
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Instructions
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Figure out if the dental school will accept your insurance. Dental schools accept most insurance. It is still a good idea to call the school to be sure there are no problems. Going to a school may be a good option if your regular dentist drops insurance coverage.
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Know who oversees treatment. Believe it or not, there are celebrities within the dental profession. And many of them teach at dental schools. A "cavity professor" may frequently speak at conferences and may publish in journals. It's not uncommon for dental professors to be recognized for innovations relating to teeth whitening or some other field.
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Recognize the cost benefits. Dental care at a dental school is cheap. This includes cleanings, crowns, root canals, or even veneers. Treatment can be about half as expensive as a regular dental office. The students working on you are good resources for learning about the best values offered at the school. Ask them if there are any procedures that are particularly cheap at the school. Perhaps teeth whitening kits are inexpensive there. It depends on the school.
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Know who will be working on you. While the celebrity dentists oversee the work being done on you, it's actually a third or fourth year dental student (dental school is four years long) actually doing the procedure. Your typical dental student is a 20 something-year-old studying for classes and working to become a good dentist. Don't underestimate what your student knows how to do. They are trained to do crowns, fill cavities, and even put on veneers. Dentistry is continually changing with new advancements, and schools are very good at updating their curriculums so students know the most up-to-date techniques.
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Research the possibility for absolutely FREE work. To become licensed as dentists, students must pass the National Board exams. This consists of working on patients that have a specific type of cavity under the supervision of a Board examiner. If you qualify as a National Board patient, your student will love you and fix your teeth for free.
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Be patient. It may take a couple of appointments to do what you are used to having done in one. Because students are so closely monitored, it normally takes 3 appointments until patients begin treatment. Also, many schools suffer from faculty shortages. Appointments that take 1 hour at a regular dentist's office could take 3 hours because the student is waiting for a professor to check their work. Bring a book or something else because you might be alone in the chair while the student is waiting for a professor.
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Take a deep breath. Students practice on manikins, plastic teeth, and each other before they are let loose on real human beings. When practicing, good clinical results, not speed, are graded. Students are competent at performing the procedures - they are just slower than you will be used to.
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Think it over. If you don't mind spending some extra time at the school, you can get a great bang for your buck.
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Tips & Warnings
Sometimes schools offer evening clinic sessions, which offer greater flexibility for patients.
Normally students are working solo. So you may be asked to help make the process go faster. You may have to write some numbers on a chart or hold the suction in your own mouth.
Resources
- Photo Credit Alexey Arkhipov, Chiyacat, Dozenist2, Geotrac, Frenk and Danielle Kaufmann, Stanko Mravljak, Suat Eman, Ioana Grecu
