dental school for braces- Good or Bad? - Dental Health Message Board

tasha92337 · 11-03-2007, 02:31 PM

I want to get braces and I dont have any insurance to cover for braces so i decided to go a dental school since i heard its cheaper..like $2500. The job i work at will help pay for my braces since i make about 2000 dollars a month.

has anyone had good results in dental schools?

drmartinsmiles · 11-04-2007, 08:09 AM

Good morning,

I am currently an orthodontic resident in a dental school (one of those students putting on braces). I have found there are 2 basic types of patients that go to dental schools. Those that are responsible and make it to their appointments - generally have an excellent result, and those that do not attend appointments regularly and end up in treatment for 4 years because residency programs are not willing to compromise on the finished result.

So . . . if you attend your appointments, you should expect an excellent result. Cases probably take 6 months longer to treat than in private practice and appointments are most likely around 15-30 minutes longer than they would be in private practice.

curiousleo · 11-07-2007, 10:56 AM

i didn't know you could have braces done at a dental school. do they take forms of credit or anything?

SarahofBorg · 11-07-2007, 11:37 PM

The school's reputation probably is important. I'm getting treated at Boston University dental school, which is a very good place. While it's annoying that it's only one appointment per month, and I have to travel far, the service is better than private practice for the same or even higher price.
See, they do everything by the book, and the technology is extremely up to date. Plus, while the actual people working on you are students, they are supervised by real dentists so you have nothing to worry about. In fact, I trust them far more than any private practice I've ever been to. They won't cheat you on the price either.
So yes, I would highly recommend dental schools IF it's a good one.