The following post could SAVE YOU SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS and even THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!
Like most of you, I have health insurance but my insurance doesn’t cover dental and vision. If you have nagging non-stop dental problems and don’t have dental insurance, those dental bills will add up real quick and I should know.
The Summer of 2018, I spent over $1,000 out of my own pocket to get an initial exam and X-rays of all my teeth, 02 infected teeth pulled and another tooth that couldn’t be fixed so it had to be pulled too. The 3rd tooth was causing me World War III PAIN in my mouth because there was a vertical hole in the tooth straight down to the root. Every time I ate, the PAIN, the PAIN!!!!!
Anyway, I already spent over $1,000 in dental bills and according to my dentist, I still need another $3,000 dollars worth of dental work done. And I gotta tell you, I put off going to the dentist for several months. I was successfully doing my own dental work fighting those nagging POUNDING toothaches pains, till I finally told myself “Go see a dentist.”
I know there are folks out there that can’t afford to pay those high cost dental bills, so here’s a cheaper way to get dental work done for you. It’s getting those dental students to work on you (UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A REAL DENTIST). From what I understand, those dental students across the US of A, need to work on real dental patients in order to become a dentist. And where can you go to get far cheaper and may be free dental work?
They are called Dental-School Clinics and they are located across the United States. Here’s a list I compiled for you so you can look into these 66 Dental Clinics that costs a lot less than your local dentist. OK, here’s the nationwide list:
Note: See my own UPDATE(S) at the end of this blog post.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The following list of 66 Dental-School Clinics covers the US and Puerto Rico. But no doubt there are hundreds and hundreds of other Dental-School Clinics across the globe.
To get exact addresses and phone numbers for any of the Dental Clinics, do a search on the internet.
–
–
Dental Clinic Location
Alabama
University of Alabama School of Dentistry——————————————————Birmingham, AL
–
Arizona
Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health——————————————————Mesa, AZ
Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine—————————————–Glendale, AZ
–
California
University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry——————————–Los Angeles, CA
Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC—————————————————–Los Angeles, CA
University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry——————————San Francisco, CA
University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry———————–San Francisco, CA
Loma Linda University School of Dentistry——————————————————Loma Linda, CA
Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine—————–Pomona, CA
–
Colorado
University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine——————————————-Aurora, CO
–
Connecticut
University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine————————————–Farmington, CT
–
Florida
LECOM School Of Dental Medicine——————————————————————Bradenton, FL
Nova Southeastern University College Of Dental Medicine—————————–Ft. Lauderdale, FL
University of Florida College of Dentistry——————————————————-Gainesville, FL
–
Georgia
The Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University————————————–Augusta, GA
–
Illinois
Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine—————————————-Downers Grove, IL
Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine———————————Alton, IL
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry————————————Chicago, IL
–
Indiana
Indiana University School of Dentistry———————————————————Indianapolis, IN
–
Iowa
The University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics——————-Iowa City, IA
–
Kentucky
University Of Kentucky College of Dentistry———————————————–Lexington, KY
University Of Louisville School of Dentistry————————————————Louisville, KY
–
Louisiana
Louisiana State University Health Science Center School of Dentistry——New Orleans, LA
–
Maine
University of New England College of Dental Medicine——————————Portland, ME
–
Maryland
University of Maryland School of Dentistry————————————————Baltimore, MD
–
Massachusetts
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine—————Boston, MA
Harvard University School of Dental Medicine——————————————–Boston, MA
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine————————————————Boston, MA
–
Michigan
University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry——————————————Detroit, MI
University of Michigan School of Dentistry————————————————-Ann Arbor, MI
–
Minnesota
University of Minnesota School of Dentistry———————————————–Minneapolis, MN
–
Missouri
Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health at ATSU———————————–Kirksville, MO
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry——————————Kansas City, MO
–
Nebraska
Creighton University School of Dentistry—————————————————-Omaha, NE
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry———————–Lincoln, NE
–
Nevada
University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine————————-Las Vegas, NV
–
New Jersey
Rutgers School of Dental Medicine—————————————————————Newark, NJ
–
New York
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine—————————————–New York, NY
New York University College of Dentistry—————————————————-New York, NY
Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine————————————–Stony Brook, NY
Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College——————Hawthorne, NY
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine——————————————Buffalo, NY
–
North Carolina
East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine————————————Greenville, NC
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Dentistry——————–Chapel Hill, NC
–
Ohio
Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine———————-Cleveland, OH
Ohio State University College of Dentistry————————————————–Columbus, OH
–
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry———————————————–Oklahoma City, OK
–
Oregon
Oregon Health Sciences University School of Dentistry——————————–Portland, OR
–
Pennsylvania
Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry——————————————-Philadelphia, PA
University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine———————————-Philadelphia, PA
University of Pittsburg School of Dental Medicine—————————————–Pittsburg, PA
–
Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico, School of Dental Medicine————————————San Juan, PR
–
South Carolina
Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine——————Charleston, SC
–
Tennessee
Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry————————————————-Nashville, TN
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry————–Memphis, TN
–
Texas
Texas A&M University College of Dentistry—————————————————–Dallas, TX
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry——Houston, TX
University of Texas Health Science Center at – San Antonio School of Dentistry———————————————————————–San Antonio, TX
–
Utah
Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine—————-South Jordan, UT
University of Utah School of Dentistry————————————————————-Salt Lake City, UT
–
Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry———————————–Richmond, VA
–
Washington
University of Washington School of Dentistry————————————————–Seattle, WA
–
West Virginia
West Virginia University School of Dentistry—————————————————-Morgantown, WV
–
Wisconsin
Marquette University School of Dentistry———————————————————Milwaukee, WI
–
American Student Dental Association (ASDA)
211 East Chicago Avenue, Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60611
–
1st UPDATE: To investigate how these Dental Clinics work, today (20 November 2018) I called Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine in Alton, IL. I gave the lady my data over the phone and they are sending me a packet of information to read, sign and send back to them. They would then approve or disapprove my application to become one of their dental patients. She told me it would take up to 02-months before I would receive notification of my approval or disapproval to become one of their dental patients.
2nd UPDATE: 28 November 2018 (Wednesday). I received a detailed packet from the Dental Clinic in Alton, IL. It covered how they do things and what to expect and they stated explained up front that dental work at the clinic is a lot slower than going to your local dentist.
3rd UPDATE: 29 November 2018 (Thursday). I filled-out the simple 01-page form they sent me & mailed it and now waiting to be approved as one of their patients.– They said it would take several weeks to be approved.
–
1st Dental School Update: At 160815C January 2019, I had my 1st dental appointment at the Dental School in Alton, IL. It was a 02-hour drive to get to the clinic. When I got inside the dental school lobby, there were about 09 other new patients getting processed.
We had to show them a pictured ID and gave them all the paperwork we had to fill-out. The lady in-put all the data in their computer system. I then went over to billing and paid the intial fee of $96.00 for the full dental exam to include all x-rays of each tooth.
At about 0830 hours an influx of about 50 dental patients came in and they were all there for their follow-on dental appointments.
I sat down in the large lobby and waited to be called. Plenty of reading material to pass the time. At approximately 0915, I got called and was led into a small room where my blood pressure was taken. I was then introduced to the examining process by a real dentist. Just a few minutes later, 02 dental students who were now my assigned student dentist started their dental examination. They asked me the same questions from the computer screen, that was on all the paperwork I filled-out.
Then one dental student started the physical dental exam while the other dental student recorded the data in the computer. They checked all my teeth, checked my jaws for clicking sounds and movements and asked me repeatedly about any pain at any particular teeth that showed signs of problems.
This dental examination took about 15 – 20 minutes. Once the 02 dental students finished their exam, they called in the real dentist to go over their dental exam findings. This took almost 05-minutes, with the real dentist in-putting some more data in the computer.
One dental student told me a tooth with a crown was coming loose and need to be re-cemented. He asked me if I had any pain with this loose crown. I said ‘no.’ He told me if the crown came off or if there was any pain, to call the student dental clinic to get it fixed right away – WITHOUT waiting for an appointment.
Once this dental exam was completed, I was led to a small waiting lounge in the hallway. The next step is to get all my teeth x-rayed.
I waited only 02 or 03-minutes and was called into another room to get all my teeth x-rayed. A female dental student x-ray technician was there and she started setting-up all the dental stuff she needed to take the many x-rays. A real dental x-ray technician came in and she told me what was going on – which I already knew.
The female dental student x-ray technician put the protective x-ray garment over me and had me tuck both arms under the the thick garment. She then said “Let’s start the party!” which put me at ease.
She spent the next 20-minutes taking x-rays of all my teeth. She interrupted the process and asked me about 02 things that came up on the x-ray at my front bottom teeth. I told her “I have grenade fragments in my chin and bullet fragments on both sides of my face.” I told her “You caught those fragments and the others (from mt first dental exam several months earlier) missed them. You’re good.”
Towards the end of the exam, she called in the real dental x-ray technician who thoroughly went over each x-ray photo. She instructed the student to re-take one x-ray.
The dental student x-ray technician re-took the x-ray and re-called the real dental x-ray technician who re-examined her work. At that she ‘blessed’ the dental student x-ray technician’s work and she started disassembling everything and tossed some things in a bio-hazard waste can.
The dental student x-ray technician led me to a secretary at the lobby area where I was set-up with my next appointment.
The overall process was very professional and a lot quicker than I expected.
However, I was expecting a detailed list of all the things wrong with my teeth and a dollar amount assigned to each problem tooth. I’ll ask them about this on my next dental exam.
Bottom Line: The student dental clinic experience was better than I expected and I look forward to my next dental appointment.
–
2nd Dental School Update: The 3rd week of February 2019, I had a dental appointment for a “Treatment Plan.” They already thoroughly inspected & evaluated all my teeth and took x-rays of all my teeth. The next step was fixing all the problems with my teeth (crowns, cavities,…).
Anyway, at the last second, I couldn’t make my appointment and I called them. The lady that answered my call was more than happy to re-schedule me for another “Treatment Plan” appointment. By the way the “Treatment Plan”, there is NO-CHARGE! I’ll update you once I get the “Treatment Plan” done.
–
Next Update Coming February 2019
–
IRISAP Copyright 2018 – All Rights Reserved