Dental Schools

Submitted by DriveThruOnly t3_11i1z4d in philadelphia

I currently have no dental insurance and think I may need at least a cavity re-filled, but possibly a root canal. I'm seeing my dentist in the next week to find out for sure, but am looking into my options for whatever treatment I'll need beyond that. I've read that dental schools can be a relatively affordable option, and wanted to ask if anyone could recommend a solid dental school in the Philly area, and also any general guidance on the process and how that works. Although I take care of my teeth, it seems I'm always having issues with them, so I'm considering this as a possible long-term option for affordable care, and would really appreciate any help or guidance. Thanks!

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Risquechilli t1_jawa2wx wrote

I’ve only had experience with Penn Dental.

  • They were much more affordable than private dentists
  • Appointments are long (~4 hours)
  • It can take awhile to get the initial consultation
  • If you need long term dental care, the student dentists graduate every year and you have to go through all the initial evaluations all over again once you are assigned a new student
  • There can also be some lapse in care during transition
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nolandeluca t1_jawb6ag wrote

Interesting, I was debating doing this since their open enrollment is next week. How were the prices?

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Risquechilli t1_jb6bize wrote

I had Aetna Dental through my employer so I did have some coverage. I paid around $400 out of pocket for 2 root canals, many fillings, and an extraction. As long as you make regular payments, your bill stays current. I was paying $25-$50 every time I went in to get my bill down.

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placebooooo t1_jawj69o wrote

Hi op, am a new dentist. I just graduated from Temple dental school this past May. Dental schools are a great option for affordable care, but you have to be patient, as things take multiple visits, and you are looking at 3-4 hours per visit. I don’t know much about penn, but if you were to go to temple, this is how the process would work:

  • You call and let the school know you want to be a patient of the school. They bring you in for a quicker “consult” type visit where they take x-rays and do some screenings. This same visit, you will get assigned a student dentist who will be your primary care provider from there on out.

  • Your second visit will be a 3 hour long comprehensive exam. The student dentist evaluates your gums, teeth for cavities, listens to your concerns and what you’re looking to get out of treatment. This is the appt where you will find out how many cavities you have and the such. They will also go over costs of treatment. If there is time, the student dentist will perform your cleaning that day (if not, then next visit will be your cleaning. Cleanings must be done before any other type of treatment because we need a healthy foundation to be able to fill teeth and do other work).

  • after your cleaning is done, you start fillings/root canals. Root canals take 1-2 visits depending on tooth. Students can fill 1-2 fillings per visit (or more if they’re fast/good enough). If there is emergency treatment that needs to be done (like you’re in pain from a bad tooth that needs to be pulled, those issues will be handled first before anything else).

It’s a process, but my patients were happy when I was there. The students do a great job, and remember that the faculty dentists are always on the floor and check every step of every procedure to make sure every procedure is performed at the standard of care.

Good luck.

Edit: Someone replied to my comment asking about “senior staff member” or something like that. The comment got deleted by auto mod I believe so I can’t see your response nor can I find it (sorry!). Feel free to comment again or dm.

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oksis215 t1_jb0w164 wrote

so if i have a super dead tooth (previously a root canal but all the filling is gone) and a dentist said it was infected and sent me off, would temple still do 3-4 initial appts? ive been calling temples endodontics department but they never answer and theyre the only people accepting state ins

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placebooooo t1_jb0wx7o wrote

So the one thing temple sucks terribly at is phone calls. They’re all over the place.

To answer your question, it depends.

You said the tooth already had a root canal done previously, but now it needs to be redone? Are you going back to your original dentist to continue treatment and just want the root canal done at temple and that’s all?

If the answer to the above questions is “yes” then you need to look up and contact the graduate endodontics department at temple, tell them you have a referral to redo a root canal. They will do it for you in 1-2 visits and bypass all the other appts I mentioned, then they will send you back to your original dentist for further treatment if needed.

If you want to become a patient of the school and want the school to be your primary dental provider, then you will have to go through the whole process. I hope this isn’t too confusing.

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oksis215 t1_jb0xilp wrote

My original dentist did 2 root canals in 8th grade, never got crowns or caps just filling. In 10th grade the filling on the left was gone and tooth was broken, they pulled the tooth.

I went to a different dentist last month (21 now) and they did xrays and said there was an infection on the right side, the fillings all gone. they gave me a paper with 4 referrals of endos accepting medicaid. 3/4 no longer accept it.

Im not sure if theyd pull it or cap it or something, but I dont really have a primary dentist anymore, do you think I should try to become a patient at for Temple?

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placebooooo t1_jb0xy7z wrote

That’s your call. It sounds like you have a lot going on. If you are tight of finances, I would definitely become a temple patient. It’s a process, but if you show motivation to constantly come in for your appts, you can get things done somewhat quicker and with better affordability relative to outside dentists. Good luck

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ScoutG t1_jaw8v8x wrote

Penn and Temple both do this. I went to the Penn one years ago and IIRC it took a while to get scheduled, so start early if you’re interested.

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flagshipcopypaper t1_jawnfp6 wrote

If you need affordable cleanings try dental hygiene schools. Harcum College in Bryn Mawr right next to the Paoli/Thorndale (R5) regional rail. $20 for a cleaning. It takes a few hours because it’s a teaching clinic and it could take a few visits.

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rovinchick t1_jaxyp0w wrote

Montco community college in Blue Bell also offers free cleanings with their dental hygiene students.

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DangerPeace209 t1_jaxuokh wrote

I also read on Nextdoor that PCC also has dental students who are offering free cleanings.

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88dj t1_jawbar1 wrote

Agree with other responses so far. I had a lot of treatment done at Penn. It’s way cheaper than private practice, but the process can be longer and less straightforward. But if you can’t afford private practice, it’s definitely worth considering.

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effbrianna t1_jawjptg wrote

I was in a similar situation a while back. Needed lots of dental work, no insurance, not a lot of extra money for treatment. I did the Penn dental route at first to try and get longterm care. They set up a treatment plan for me and I got 1 root canal, 1 crown, and 1 extraction from them. While it's more affordable than a dentist, it's not what I would call cheap. They did give me a discount on root canal which was helpful. The biggest draw back is that they are learning so they are slow. During the root canal I started crying from the pain of leaving my mouth open for so long. Eventually I found out about CareCredit, which is a credit card that you can get interest free terms for medical expenses. Just make sure you can pay it off before the term expires or you pay an insane rate on the initial amount. Once I got all the extractions, cavitys, and root canals taken care of I haven't had any dental problems since. Took about 3 years once I truly committed but very worth it.

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cielorossa t1_jawtiwl wrote

Penn Dental hands down. They did my bone graft for an implant 20 years ago, and I'd go there now again if I needed to. I only see Penn dentists still. Lol.

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craftyangie t1_jax25jv wrote

I might be the only nay, but I recommend against penn dental (the actual practice, not the dental school). The hygienists are amazing, but even with the $$$ Penn dental insurance, there was a two year period that I didn’t get to see a single dentist. The dentists were always running about an hour late (even at 7:45am), so there was no rhyme or reason for the constant lateness. No one ever thought to ask why I hadn’t been seen for two years by a dentist (they didn’t have 5 minutes for me even after cleanings)…so I decided to get another (cheaper) insurance and move out of that. I’ve been happy ever since, but again, this doesn’t help OP as I am talking about insurance. I would also check on Nextdoor as I’ve seen a couple of dental students offering their services as well; focusing on those that cannot pay. If I can find the one I saw a couple of weeks ago, I’ll send a message.

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GoldenMonkeyRedux t1_jb0gwe9 wrote

That's pretty odd as I've been going to Penn Dental (most recently at their new digs at 38th and Market) for 15 years or so, and I've seen a dentist every single time. Never have I had just a cleaning without a dentist coming in to examine my mouth and review the x-rays if necessary. Same with both my spouse and child. Heck, my kid has been going since their teeth first came in.

Edit: I would hope you made your displeasure known to the front office. Penn Health takes their patient feedback very seriously. I can't imagine registering a complaint and having the same issue a second time.

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craftyangie t1_jb0kvnw wrote

By the way, I love the name! (Currently wearing a golden monkey shirt)

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GoldenMonkeyRedux t1_jb0lta9 wrote

Thanks! I started drinking Victory before the bottles had labels and the Downingtown brewery was constructed as my brother’s friend was related to one of the founders. Summer of ‘93. I drank a six-pack of what turned out to be Golden Monkey and Storm King Stout…I got so, so sick. But I’ll always have loyalty to the brand.

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craftyangie t1_jb0mnjn wrote

That is so cool! I discovered it around the time I got married. Loved it. Ever since I ask for a case of GM for my birthday.

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craftyangie t1_jb0kppx wrote

I know, right? I even asked for the cost of having to get my medical records as I’d been a patient since 2002, but the woman in the front desk didn’t even react. I just moved on; sadly, medical discrimination still a thing, and I doubt they care what a Latinx has to say. I had been happy with the care until they moved to 38th…when they were at 34th everything was fine! Both dentists and hygienists left after the move (I know because one of them started working for my new dentist)

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Flimflamscrimscram t1_jaxnaq9 wrote

I just called the Penn dental school the other day and they told me they weren’t taking new patients. The Temple one does appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays in 3 hour blocks.

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nolandeluca t1_jay830h wrote

The enrollment period is soon, March 12th iirc, they've been emailing me as it gets closer

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Delfiasa t1_jb0i1ol wrote

You may try calling around and asking dentists/endodontists if they discount services for cash/self pay. When I didn’t have insurance my dentist charged me the insurance reimbursement rate which is like half of the price they normally charge.

Someone else recommended care credit, which is also a good option. If you can’t pay it off before the zero interest period expires, make sure you have a plan to do a balance transfer to another card bc the default rates are high and the interest from the whole promotional period will hit retroactively if you don’t pay it!

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HonnyBrown t1_jazwfye wrote

Temple University School of Dentistry

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Rare_Examination_674 t1_jax1e5c wrote

Mbit out in the bucks county area does a low cost service for adults with no insurance.

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UndercoverPhilly t1_jazut8c wrote

I had a root canal several years ago and it my case it was very complicated. I don’t think a student would have been able to do it—the dentist saved the tooth and added some kind of support and an implant. I also had a few cavities and a broken tooth, since I had no dental insurance for 10 years and hadn’t gone.

My current dentist is the professor of all those student dentists at one of the dental schools and has more than 20 years of experience, and it took nearly a year of visits to get my mouth fixed and the root canal took a few visits. The visits were only 60-90 minutes though. But I did not feel any pain at all and I felt safe with someone experienced. Even with my insurance I still had a lot to pay since their fees are high but it was worth it. I’ve been going to this practice since for about 8 years and have only had a couple of cavities in that time. What has helped me is switching to a battery toothbrush. Electric or battery toothbrush cleans a lot better. I don’t know if you have one. I have a dental cleaning every six months.

A student dentist would be okay for basic stuff (I did that when I was a grad student in another state) but I’d be reluctant to have a root canal done by anyone but an experienced professional. Others have vouched for the student clinics though.

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HonnyBrown t1_jazwmo2 wrote

I had my root canal done at the University of Southern California. I had to go to my dentist for the crown. My dentist said it was a textbook (good) job and he would not have done anything differently.

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Mdm08033 t1_jb0o45a wrote

I’m a past and present Temple dental school patient. The quality of the work is excellent. I would call them. I had the basic work done over 5 visits. Next up is the extraction surgery, bone reconstruction and an implant. It’s not free, but less expensive than a private dentist. There’s an application for a sliding fee scale if you’re interested. They are located at right at the Broad And Allegheny station of the orange line.

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