UMB dental school (Balt)- experiences (Baltimore: insurance, home, schools)

[thedukelives]

Has anyone out there had any dental work done down at the UMB Dental School? I don't have any dental insurance, have an abscessed tooth , and some people said to give them a call. I don't know how I feel about students doing the work but I am sure they are supervised and the prices are discounted.

Any positive or negative experiences would be greatly appreciated. Again I've had numerous people tell me to call there so there must be something to it.

Thank you for reading-

[barante]

I know people who swear by the dental school. I don't know about routine work but more elaborate procedures may take time to schedule. Check it out.

[jonjj]

My neighbor gets all of her dental work done there and swears by it. We were comparing prices on root canals... Go there!

[Shoosh]

The general rule is, work done at dental schools has far more superior quality than done anywhere else. This is based on valid scientific research.
Even if you get work done by students, remember that students need to get done the work at the best quality possible because they need to and have to. In addition, they have seniors who supervise them and will double check the work meticulously.
The only reason I personally would not get work done by a student is that they take a long time and I am impatient.
I think, just go for it and have no worries

[kharing]

If you have an infection you really should go ASAP to get antibiotics. I doubt they can do anything until that's taken care of.

[carolott]

I've never been to the dental school, but in my experience, I've gotten far superior care at university hospitals than private ones. The students aren't jaded and cynical yet, and they're well-supervised.

[psychofan]

I had a number of dental procedures (routine cleaning, preventative cares, cavities, root canal, and wisdom teeth extraction) done there before I moved from Baltimore. Very important thing to do is to request for the AGD (Advanced General Dentistry ) division. These are the graduate dental students and not those who are just starting their courseworks. The prices are amazing compared to regular dentists and the work are just as good.

My wisdom teeth were pulled by an actual oral surgeon and not a student via a NIH clinical study. The procedure was free plus I got a $50 check for a 24 hr follow-up phone call (3 minutes).

Do it, you'll not regret it.

[midge2914]

I personally have not had work done at the dental school, but a family member did years ago. To say it lightly, it took three times the number of years she put in at the dental school to get the work fixed that the dental school did. They kept working on her front teeth until they wound up looking like two chiclets. No, I think chiclets would have looked better if she would have crazy-glued them on. They worked on her teeth, removing old fillings and doing root canals, and it just seemed like she was never finished. She only went there for a few fillings and they talked her into coming back every week for 1-2 hours for months and months, and when that part was done, they found something else. It would take them one month to do a root canal. One thing you have to remember: these are students who are learning. They are just like medical students, so remember this when you have to get needles in your mouth by this dental student. Getting needles by a dentist is an art. Some doesn't give needles so great you can't feel it at all, but others feel like they have a blunt tipped syringe. The resident overseeing this student can only help so much. On her, the student did a little bit of work, stopped, his resident came over, looked over what the student did, and then the student proceeded to the next step. If it wasn't right, the student had to take it out and start over. They are learning on you. After all the painful hours she spent at the dental school it took hours and hours by a qualified dentist to straighten out everything that was done "almost right", but not quite there. In dentisty this means that not all the cavity was taken out or the filling wasn't smoothed out right or maybe they did a root canal when one wasn't needed or vice versa. You sign papers when you go there acknowledging that the people treating you are not full fledged dentists, but they are dental students. It is pretty much "you get what you pay for".

I also know of a coworker who got her first set of false teeth done by the dental school. Whenever she opened her mouth to talk, the teeth stayed shut or would make the sound of horses galloping, sort of like "clippidy clop, clippidy clop". When you tried to talk to her, you would be in stitches on the floor because her teeth were dancing in her mouth and she was trying so hard to control them. Even after trying to get them lined, she gave up and threw them away and went to a licensed dentist and got dental implants done. We all had a good time though at the lunch table watching her trying to eat with the dental school false teeth. She would open her mouth to take a forkful of food and she would ram the fork into the front teeth of her false teeth because her lips would open for the fork, but her teeth stayed shut. They kind of looked like the teeth that you wind up and you watch them jump on a table -- they had a mind of their own. We used to leave the cafeteria with tears running down our cheeks laughing at the show every day. We never laughed in front of her or hurt her feelings, but we were always wondering why the dental school let her take the teeth the way they fit. Thank God she had dental implants. So, the moral to this story is: You get what you pay for. Maybe the dental school has changed, who knows, but they are LEARNING, right?

[psychofan]

Just like with anything else in life, for the two bad experiences previously described, there are tons of other good experiences. The problems described could have been encountered with currently practicing dentists as well (which I'm sure a little something called 'mal-practice' insurance exists for a reason).

Originally Posted by midge2914

I personally have not had work done at the dental school, but a family member did years ago. To say it lightly, it took three times the number of years she put in at the dental school to get the work fixed that the dental school did. They kept working on her front teeth until they wound up looking like two chiclets. No, I think chiclets would have looked better if she would have crazy-glued them on. They worked on her teeth, removing old fillings and doing root canals, and it just seemed like she was never finished. She only went there for a few fillings and they talked her into coming back every week for 1-2 hours for months and months, and when that part was done, they found something else. It would take them one month to do a root canal. One thing you have to remember: these are students who are learning. They are just like medical students, so remember this when you have to get needles in your mouth by this dental student. Getting needles by a dentist is an art. Some doesn't give needles so great you can't feel it at all, but others feel like they have a blunt tipped syringe. The resident overseeing this student can only help so much. On her, the student did a little bit of work, stopped, his resident came over, looked over what the student did, and then the student proceeded to the next step. If it wasn't right, the student had to take it out and start over. They are learning on you. After all the painful hours she spent at the dental school it took hours and hours by a qualified dentist to straighten out everything that was done "almost right", but not quite there. In dentisty this means that not all the cavity was taken out or the filling wasn't smoothed out right or maybe they did a root canal when one wasn't needed or vice versa. You sign papers when you go there acknowledging that the people treating you are not full fledged dentists, but they are dental students. It is pretty much "you get what you pay for".

I also know of a coworker who got her first set of false teeth done by the dental school. Whenever she opened her mouth to talk, the teeth stayed shut or would make the sound of horses galloping, sort of like "clippidy clop, clippidy clop". When you tried to talk to her, you would be in stitches on the floor because her teeth were dancing in her mouth and she was trying so hard to control them. Even after trying to get them lined, she gave up and threw them away and went to a licensed dentist and got dental implants done. We all had a good time though at the lunch table watching her trying to eat with the dental school false teeth. She would open her mouth to take a forkful of food and she would ram the fork into the front teeth of her false teeth because her lips would open for the fork, but her teeth stayed shut. They kind of looked like the teeth that you wind up and you watch them jump on a table -- they had a mind of their own. We used to leave the cafeteria with tears running down our cheeks laughing at the show every day. We never laughed in front of her or hurt her feelings, but we were always wondering why the dental school let her take the teeth the way they fit. Thank God she had dental implants. So, the moral to this story is: You get what you pay for. Maybe the dental school has changed, who knows, but they are LEARNING, right?

[midge2914]

I agree with you 100%. That is why I said: these are practicing students. When you go there, you sign a waiver, acknowledging that they are students. When you go to a regular dentist, you EXPECT the best and should get the best. As with all students practicing to be doctors and dentists, some are just made to be a doctor and are fantastic from day one and others need more practice. I hope this person the best but if it doesn't turn out, legally he doesn't have a leg to stand on because of the waiver. The only other thing to consider is the time. The appointments are rather lengthy and are not for people having to get home after work to fix dinner or pick up the kids. I wish this person the best of luck, but with licensed dentists getting sued for mishaps that happen in the office, what do you think happens with a student who is practicing. He has to learn somewhere???