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The Dental Hygienist School

I may have mentioned this on here before. I thought about it. 🙂

A couple of weeks ago, on the online Neighborhood group, a young lady mentioned that she was in the dental hygienist program at Missouri Southern. She explained that it’s a teaching school, there’s a dentist there but the students who are near graduating need to work on real patients and she wanted to know if there were any volunteers. You would get x-rays, cleanings and routine maintenance type procedures – no fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, etc. but . . I had just gone to the dentist when I saw her post and I paid $220 for a cleaning – no x-rays, nothing but a cleaning. At the hygiene school, a visit with cleaning and x-rays is $30. Vince was needing to go to the dentist so he jumped on that deal.

The only negative is that you go from 7:30 to 11:30, take a break for lunch, then go from 12:30 to 3:30. The lady said since Vince had been having regular dental checkups, his appointment might not take so long but they’re learning/teaching while doing the exam.

Six hours? Would I do it to save $200? Could I spend the $200 on cross stitching supplies . . as soon as the Enforcement Officer says it’s ok to buy something? That would be $400 per year – probably closer to $600 on the years they do the full x-rays.

I’ll see what Vince thinks about it before I commit. Those kinds of places need patients to participate so they can learn; people like us need to save money so . . I’ll probably do it. I think it would be interesting to do it at least once.

I’ll report back after I hear what Vince has to say about it.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. In about 1977, Eandy and I both needed bridges. We went to UNC Dental school and both got gold bridges( the best at that time). We paid $300 for the gold and that was all we paid. My bridge lasted 43 years. Randy’s had to be replaced by implants after an accident and we sold the gold for $200. I haven’t sold my gold yet. They were overseen by the teachers on every step. I even had the student put in the temporary during one visit instead of the permanent one. he drove 3 hours to my home and replaced it. I know the students will take extra care. Even with dental insurance, it is very dear.

    • Yes and now that Vince has retired, we don’t have dental insurance and I sure miss it.

    • All the food items came from Aldi. Never believe anything I say. 🙂

  3. I have read that dental schools are the best places to go if there is one near you. They not only have near graduates doing the work, but they also have dentists there to help if they need it. I would trust them. At least it would be worth a try and if it is only x-rays and cleaning that is a wonderful price! And yes, I think just like you, that would be a lot of sewing, stitching or yarn supplies!!

    • Vince said they did things he’s never had done before. They were very thorough. The dentist overseeing them was fairly young and seemed good too.

      • That is great to know. At least I didn’t get bad info! Wish they had one near here.

        • I was wondering if there had been one and I just didn’t know about it. You would think maybe Ranger would have something like that.

          • None around here that I know of. I imagine the closest one is in Waco, Austin, or Dallas-Ft. Worth. I doubt if any of the Jr. Colleges have a dental school. Ranger did not have the nursing school until they opened the campus in Brownwood.

          • I’ve heard of places having them but this is the first place we’ve lived where there was a hygienist school and people could get discounted x-rays and cleaning.

  4. I would not save $$ by going to a dental school. I am extremely dental phobic. My dentist will inject Novocain (or whatever) in my entire mouth before I have my teeth cleaned, because my teeth are very sensitive. It’s worth it to me to pay full price.

    • They wouldn’t do the work if something like that was required. For us, it’s definitely worth the savings. Vince actually enjoyed it and thought it was great to be able to help the students meet the requirements.

  5. Have you also looked into dental plans yourself? I pay about $7.80 per month, and it covers 2 cleanings a year, plus the regular dental visits and annual xrays. I had to have 2 crowns put in (one per year, replacing 50+ year fillings that went bad) and got 50% off the cost, so it was a good deal for me. Call local dentists and find out which dental plans they accept, and then go online to research each one for cost. Medicare Advantage plans include dental care this year but I would never use that dental group in this area as its known for extremely poor work & customer service for the last 25 years.

    • We did that in Texas but it was right at $40 per month and it wasn’t 50% off the regular price but I don’t remember. I have had a crown since Vince retired but haven’t had anything else other than routine cleanings and x-rays. We normally have x-rays done every two years.

    • I just checked and in Texas, we each paid $41.35 per month and it included the 2 cleanings per year, x-rays and 2 office visits per year but the discount for dental work was 15% . . way different from what you’re getting.

  6. I wish we had something like that around here, but I guess we are too far out in the sticks! It would be nice to be closer to a large city but I kind of like being out in the country. It has really changed here in the last 30 years! But that could be a good thing! You know how small towns are! Everyone knows your business and if they don’t, they make things up!

    • It’s that way everywhere though – people only talk about the people they know, for the most part. No one ever knows us since we’ve moved so much.

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