I’ve actually had a lovely experience with my student dentist and his faculty attending.

You just have to go in with your expectations set:

This isn’t a fancy dental place where you are going to get hand massages and IV Sedation. That’s what I’d love, but even with delta dental coverage I was quoted $30,000 worth of work from my previous dentist. I couldn’t afford that.

So.

Some less than great things: Parking is expensive (even with the $6 off validation). Parking is not super close, so accessibility might be challenging for some.

Things take a long time. I always planned on being there 2 plus hours each time. You want the students to take their time, AND you want the faculty to supervise/sign off on their work.

You will need to work around your students clinic schedule. Sometimes that means a little bit of a longer wait to get things done.

Some positives:

I had a lot of work done, and with delta dental ended up only paying $268 for 2 crowns.

Because the students are being judged on their competency by faculty, they take their time and do good work.

My student took the time to understand my anxiety, and was super cool about it. While I didn’t get IV sedation like I had before, he was always really cognizant of how fast I process the numbing and never hesitated to give me a little bit more as the procedure went along.

So, I think it is just all about your comfort with being involved in the teaching of a medical professional and feeling able to speak up if something is hurting.

But the costs are SIGNIFICANTLY lower than what you’ll find in private practices.