Have you gone to dental school for dental care? cost difference? quality of care? general experience? etc...?

i need dental care! i have no insurance/dental plan so i'm trying to figure out my options. i have two top dental schools near me (USC/UCLA) but i'm trying to do a little research before trying either. so if anyone has experience with these schools or any others please fill me in on costs/discount, work provided, and your overall experience. thanks.

Have you gone to dental school for dental care? cost difference? quality of care? general experience? etc...?
my friend did, and he said it was wayyy cheaper.


and that it wasa pretty good overall experience.





what more could you ask for beside same care, and wayyy less pay.
Reply:I'm a dentist.





Getting work done at a dental school is a double-edged sword. While the care you receive is of good quality, it takes place so slowly and with so much red tape that I consider it to be borderline abusive.





You have to remember that you are being treated by a student, who is in-turn being supervised by an attending dentist who is charged with the responsibility of supervising the work of multiple students. As such, the attending doctor must examine the work of every student and approve each phase of the work done that appointment. For example, if you are having a filling done, the attending doctor must first give the student the OK to begin work. Then, after the student has drilled on your tooth, the attending doctor must approve it. He/she may want the student to make changes (i.e. drill a little more here or there, etc.), and these changes usually have to be approved. Once the attending approves the drill work, he/she allows the student to place the filling. Once the filling has been placed, the attending must approve that as well.





Keep in mind that all of this approval requires the attending to sit down next to the patient and examine with his/her own eyes the student's work. And keep in mind that the attending must do this for multiple students.





As you can see, this requires a lot of waiting.





Hence, it is uncommon for you to have more than two fillings performed in a three-hour appointment when you are being treated in a dental school. In dental school, I was lightening fast--faster than most of my classmates, and it was a rarity when I could complete three fillings in a three-hour appointment slot. In private practice, it rarely takes me more than 45 minutes to complete three fillings.





And remember, these are just fillings we're talking about. Just imagine how time-consuming it would be to have root canals and crown/bridge and dentures done!





In private practice, crowns are typically completed in two 1-hour appointments. In dental school, it's almost always three 3-hour appointments.





So, if you have lots of time to kill and plenty of patience, then by all means, have your work done at a school. Otherwise, you're better off just biting the bullet and going to a doctor in private practice.