Treatments at Dental Schools
Some people can utilize dental insurance to cover their costs. Others can pay full price for their treatments. However, some people, including those with dental insurance, cannot even afford them, causing them to delay treatment, leading to future problems for their oral health and overall health (Neumann 2018). Patients could go to dental schools for their low costs, but they have their disadvantages.
Patients can save money by going to dental schools for quality treatment. They could receive cheaper treatments at dental schools than at traditional dental clinics (“Pros and Cons of treatment at a Dental School”). Though, patients may have to pay “small fees to cover cost of equipment, tools, and x-rays” (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Dental schools also use the newest technology since they “want to train its students with current technology” in contrast to “an older, established dentist office” (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Additionally, since dental professionals watch over students who do the procedures, students have to focus on “the quality of their work” for their grades, unlike “an established dentist… whose priority may be to get [the patient] in and out the office as fast as possible” (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”).
However, patients have to deal with their shortcomings. They may struggle getting appointments that “can often be full” at dental schools (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Also, dental schools have to check whether the patients’ conditions could “teach the student what he needs to know and provide him with the specific practice he needs” before accepting them for treatment (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Patients may have to spend a longer time getting treatment from dental schools (“Pros and Cons of treatment at a Dental School”). For instance, schools may spend many hours doing a filling, while private practices spend at most twenty minutes (“Pros and Cons of treatment at a Dental School”). For other patients, depending on their conditions, their treatment plans may even last at least one year, during which “several dental students may provide care to one patient. This is a deterrent for many patients that want a relationship with a proven, experienced dental professional” (LaPlante 2018). Patients may not be able to rely on the same person for more treatment afterwards since dental students graduate (LaPlante 2018). Additionally, patients may not be able to undergo certain treatments depending on what the students are learning at certain points of the school year (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Furthermore, the quality of their treatments and services can vary between different dental schools and students (“Pros and Cons of treatment at a Dental School”).
The flaws of dental schools show that patients should still research different schools for their care (“How to Get Cheap Dental Work at Dental Schools”). Even so, dental schools are relatively affordable options for patients in need of dental care.
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