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As reported by WFSB Channel 3, May 16, 2008.
Dental School Dean Answers FAQ
What kinds of procedures do you offer here?
We offer the full scope of dental and oral health care,
including exams, cleanings, x-rays, periodontal treatment or gum
treatment, endodontics or root canal, oral surgery, prosthodontics,
including crowns, bridges, dentures, partials, pediatric dentistry,
orthodontics, oral pathology. There's pretty much nothing that can
be offered in dentistry that we don't offer here.
What is the process of becoming a patient?
We take patients through a screening -- or triage -- intake process.
Patients are evaluated based on what their needs are and how closely
those needs match our educational programs. We accept greater than
96 percent of the patients that present for care. We also have a
walk-in emergency clinic where patients having pain, bleeding,
swelling can come in -- day and night. It's 24 hours, 7 days a week
for emergency care. The majority of the care we provide, though, is
comprehensive care, meaning a patient comes here and we can provide
them with all of their care, pretty much one-stop shopping.
How many patients do you see?
Last year we saw just over 94,000 patient visits here in
Farmington. We have some additional activity in Hartford. The
majority of our pediatric dentistry activity is based out of CT
Children's Medical Center and the Bank of America Bergdorf Health
Clinic in the North End of Hartford.
Do you deliver dentistry to the underserved?
We also have our students, residents and faculty provide care in a
number of community health centers. We're currently in 15 different
sites throughout the state, including New Haven, Bridgeport,
Waterbury, Norwich, Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester,
Willimantic, Torrington.
What are the costs?
The average fees here tend to be significantly less than most
private dental settings. Our fees are generally a third to a half
less. The fees will vary depending on if the provider is a student
or if the provider is a resident. The trade-off in the fees is an
accomodation for the patients because we're asking them to
participate in our educational program and procedures do take longer
here within the school setting than they would in the private
dentist office. So we're asking patients to give us their time and
in exchange the fees in general are significantly less than in most
private offices.
What is the level of education of the student dentists?
Our students enter with a degree from an undergraduate school. Some
of our students also have advanced degrees. We have some students
that already enter with a master's degree or a ph.d. in some other
field. Then the dental curriculum is four years. We offer the DMD
degree here. Upon completion of the four year program in most
states, dentists can go into practice. Many of our students remain
for additional training, whether here or at another institution for
residency training, either in general dentistry or in a specialty
program. Those residencies would range anywhere from one upwards of
six years depending on what the field of study is.
Which students are providing the care?
The majority of our patient care here is offered by third and
fourth-year students. Our school is a little unique in its
educational program in that our dental students take the same
coursework, the same basic medical sciences as the medical students
do here. So they do very, very little patient care during their
first two years. The bulk of their clinical training is in their
third and fourth year. So if a patient comes to the dental clinics
here, they will either be seen by a third-year student or a
fourth-year student, or commonly a combination of both depending on
what the patient's needs are or a patient would be seen by a
resident in one or more of the areas, again, depending on the
complexity of their needs.
Do patients request students over residents because the cost
is less?
The overall majority of our patients that come through screening
actually ask to be seen in the student clinics. We will only require
a patient to go to the residency program if their needs are so
complex that it's not appropriate for the care to be provided by a
third or fourth-year dental student. But we also have patients that
are seen both by students and residents. It really is completely
dependent on what the patient's needs are. We try to offer the
patients the most economical alternatives that exist. We do have
some patients that specifically request a resident because of time
commitments. Because the residents are already dentists getting
advanced training, their visits are going to tend to be shorter, the
care's going to move along a little quicker. So for many patients
who are working and have a limited time to take off from work, they
may choose to be seen by a resident instead of a student even though
the fees are a little bit higher.
How long do appointments last in the clinic?
The average appointment with a third or fourth-year dental
student is going to be approximately three hours in length, so
there's a fairly large commitment from a patient and again, that's
why the fees are the lowest. Resident-level appointments tend to be
an hour or less, so they're a little bit closer to what the average
patient would see in the dentist in the community.
How about the cost of a crown?
The state average for a crown is just under $1,000. If a patient has
a crown done by a resident, the fee currently is $700. The fee for
being done by a third or fourth-year dental student is currently
approximately $400. So it's anywhere from a third less to a little
more than 50 percent off.
What’s the cost of a cleaning?
Cleaning... with a dental student is $30. With a resident, $40.
The average -- the statewide average -- is closer to $70.
Is there minimum level of care patient has to get the first
time they come here?
No, we have patients that need nothing more than a cleaning or one
filling and that's perfectly acceptable to us. Patients present
needing everything from just a few fillings to needing full mouth
reconstruction involving multiple root canals, surgical procedures,
extensive prosthodontic therapy. It's the full gamut.
Do you take insurance?
We don't directly take private third-party insurance. We ask
patients to pay for the care because the fees are lower. But then we
have a financial services department that will assist the patients
in filling out insurance forms and getting direct reimbursement. The
only insurance plans we participate with directly are those
state-funded plans such as Medicaid.
How about the cost of orthodontic care?
Orthodontic care here with a resident... Most cases are in the
$1600-$1800 range. So again, approximately 50 percent less than the
average cases.
Do you deal with impacted teeth?
Everything -- third molars, implants, surgery for pathology, surgery
for trauma. Somebody may have a car accident or may be sliding into
home base and their jaw hits the knee of the catcher and they have a
broken jaw... That's all done here. There's virtually nothing in
terms of what someone's oral health care needs that we can't offer
here.
What do you say to people who might have concerns about being
treated by students?
Our students are supervised by fully licensed, fully trained faculty
at all times. We actually believe that the care that patients get
here is as good if not better than in many other settings because
it's an educational setting, we expect very high standards from our
students. So if something's not done right the first time, it's
going to be done again, so patients should be fairly comfortable
with the knowledge that before they leave here after a procedure
that's probably the best care that they're going to get.
Do you have the latest in dental technology?
We try to keep up with whatever technologies, techniques,
materials and philosophic approaches to care exist because we are an
educational institution, it's our obligation to ensure when student
leave here they're very well trained to enter the dental profession
at whatever level they're going to do so. So it's our obligation,
again, as a school to make sure that our students and our residents
are receiving the appropriate training and that means providing them
with the knowledge and skills to give patients the finest care
that's available to date.
Do you have technology other places don’t?
Our newest technology that we're offering is Cone Beam 3-D imaging.
We're not the first in the state to offer cone beam, but the
equipment that we did purchase, we're the only place in the state to
offer this and it's for a different type of imaging ... For oral
structures. In terms of jaws, the skull. It's excellent in terms of
identifying pathology, treatment planning of implant cases and large
reconstructive cases. We had the grand opening of that approximately
two months ago.
Do you have to live in Connecticut to be treated?
No. The majority of our patients are residents of Connecticut. We
see patients from every, town, city and municipality in the state.
But we also have patients that travel here from Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, New York. The furthest that we know a patient travels is
from Oregon -- someone who used to live in Canton moved to Oregon
and comes back whenever they're visiting relatives, they coordinate
a recall visit so they get all their check-ups while they're here
visiting families over holidays.
Do you have to make -- or not make -- a certain amount of
money to be a patient?
We see patients of every demographic in the state and in the area.
We see patients of every age. We see patients who are infants ...
Currently our oldest active patient is 104.
For more information, visit the University of Connecticut Dental Clinics' web site.
To make a general appointment, call 860-679-3415 Those interested in orthodontic work, should dial 860-679-2664.