Community Health Center
NORTH END WATERFRONT HEALTH
332 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113-1901 0.8 miles away
Community Health Center
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114-2696
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL is a community health center dental clinic in Boston, MA, operated by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which runs 3 clinics in Massachusetts.
The health center is open about 40 hours a week, though dental sessions are usually a subset of that.
Access to This Clinic
This clinic is located inside a hospital. Hospital-based dental services are sometimes open to the general public and sometimes limited to the hospital's own patients. Confirm which applies, and ask where in the building the dental clinic is located, as main reception may not be familiar with it.
Clinic Details
| Address | 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 |
|---|---|
| Phone | 857-238-0535 |
| Operated by | Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program |
| Program | Health Center Program (federally funded) |
| Setting | Hospital |
Dental Services
No service list has been published for this clinic, so the range here is worth asking about directly rather than assuming. The routine work — examinations, cleanings, X-rays, fillings, extractions — is normally available. Whether root canals, dentures and surgery are done on site is what differs from clinic to clinic.
Costs and Coverage
What you pay here is worked out from your household income and family size, not read off a price list. The scale belongs to Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, not to a national schedule, so the only reliable figure is the one they give you. Ask for your band in writing before agreeing to a course of treatment. Our guide to applying for the discount lists the documents to bring.
No Medicaid registration has been recorded for this clinic, which is not the same as Medicaid being refused. Adult dental coverage under Massachusetts Medicaid is decided at state level and has changed more than once in most states; children’s dental coverage is required everywhere. The Medicaid dental page covers how to check yours.
Dental Providers at This Clinic
Alongside general dentistry, providers registered in oral and maxillofacial surgery, for surgical extractions and jaw procedures practice at this address. That is not the same as the clinic taking new patients for those treatments, or the discount covering them, so name the treatment when you call.
Planning Your Visit
55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114
The published number is 857-238-0535. Where an organization runs several sites this often lands at a central desk, so name the clinic and say the appointment is dental.
The call is worth making for: the dental hours, and which days appointments run, whether new dental patients are being taken, and the current wait, what a first visit costs, before and after any discount, whether your insurance or Medicaid dental plan is accepted, by plan name, and what to bring for the sliding fee application.
Common Questions
Will they see me if I still owe them money?
Usually yes for pain and for anything urgent, though a clinic may ask you to agree a plan for the balance before booking routine work. An old balance is worth raising on the phone instead of discovering it at the desk; it is often smaller after a discount is applied than the letter suggests.
Is this a federally funded clinic?
Yes, this site operates under the federal Health Center Program, which is what obliges it to discount by household income and to see patients regardless of ability to pay. It does not make the care free, and it does not decide which treatments are offered here.
Can they do specialist work here?
Providers in more than general dentistry are registered at this address, which is listed further up the page. That does not mean the clinic is taking new patients for those treatments or that they fall inside the discount, so name the treatment when you call.
Does my partner’s income count?
If you share a household, generally yes, and household size counts in your favor at the same time — the scale reads income against the number of people it supports. Say who lives with you and who depends on that income, rather than giving a single figure and letting them assume.
How do they work out what I pay?
From your household income and family size, checked against a scale the clinic sets itself. That is why a quote from another clinic tells you nothing about this one. Our guide to applying for the discount lists the documents to take.
Can I get dentures here?
Many health centers do dentures, and the discount can make them dramatically cheaper than private practice. The catch is laboratory costs, which are often billed on top of the discounted fee and are the bulk of the price. Ask for the total including laboratory work.
Other Clinics Operated by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program operates 2 other clinics in 2 other communities in Massachusetts. A central scheduling line can often say which of them has the shortest wait, and it is not always the nearest one. Once your discount is assessed at one of its sites, the others normally honor it without a second application. What is treated at one site is no guide to another, so confirm with the clinic you actually intend to visit.
Other Dental Clinics Nearby
These are straight-line distances. Two clinics a mile apart can have very different waits, so it is worth calling both.
- NORTH END WATERFRONT HEALTH — Boston, less than a mile away
- SOUTH STREET CLINIC — Boston, about 1 mile away
- New Health Charlestown — Charlestown, about 1.2 miles away
- 20 Maverick Square — East Boston, about 1.6 miles away
Confirmed Payment Options
Income-Based Fees
Call MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
Confirm current dental services, appointment availability, costs and accepted insurance directly with the clinic.
Nearby Affordable Dental Clinics
Community Health Center
SOUTH STREET CLINIC
145 South St, Boston, MA 02111-2826 1 mile away
Community Health Center
New Health Charlestown
15 Tufts St, Charlestown, MA 02129-2711 1.2 miles away
Community Health Center
20 Maverick Square
20 Maverick Sq, East Boston, MA 02128-2335 1.6 miles away
Before you call
