Discount Cleaning at Dental Schools

According to the World Dental website, half of Americans lack dental insurance to cover the cost of cleaning and other dental services. Dental schools offer discounted services as both a community service and as a way for their students to gain practice at clinical dentistry. Discounts on dental cleanings allow patients who otherwise could not afford dental care to receive this beneficial service.

Types

• Discounts on cleaning services offered by dental schools vary. Some schools charge a sliding fee based on income, and others, such as the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, charge a flat rate regardless of income. In addition, dental schools often accept a variety of dental insurance plans, including Medicaid.

  If services beyond cleaning are needed, dental schools usually provide discounted fees compared with what a private dentist would charge. These fees are discussed with the patient before treatment, explains the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine website.

Features

• Cleaning services offered by dental schools are performed by students rather than licensed dental hygienists or dentists. Some programs that offer discount cleaning services are geared to under-served populations, such as those in rural areas, children, senior citizens or nursing home residents, explains the Ohio State University College of Dentistry website. Although most discount cleaning programs dental schools offer require the patient to travel to the school, some dental schools offer mobile programs for patients who cannot afford to or are unable to travel.

Considerations

• Because of the discounted fees, some dental schools maintain a lengthy waiting list for cleaning services. Schools might limit their services to cleaning, examinations and X-rays only. Cleanings and examinations done at dental schools might take longer than a cleaning at a private-practice dentist as students are still learning and their work requires supervision and inspection by a supervising dentist.

Benefits

• In addition to discounted dental cleaning, some dental schools offer additional services to patients, including fillings, crowns, root canals, bridges, orthodontics, oral cancer screenings and fluoride treatments. Patients might receive free or reduced-cost oral hygiene items, explains the Ohio State University College of Dentistry. In addition, dental schools provide oral hygiene instruction and often have multilingual staff to provide instruction to those who do not speak English.