Accredited dental hygiene program
College of Lake County
19351 West Washington Street, Grayslake, IL 60030-1198
College of Lake County runs an accredited dental hygiene program in Grayslake, IL. Students train by working on real patients, which is why programs like this often run a low-cost clinic that anyone can book into.
What matters most before you make the trip is scope. Dental hygienists are trained in preventive and gum care, so a hygiene clinic can clean your teeth thoroughly and treat gum disease, but it cannot fill a cavity, pull a tooth, or fit a crown. If something hurts, this is not the place to start.
What a Hygiene Clinic Can and Cannot Do
Hygiene students are trained in preventive and gum care, so a teaching clinic covers cleanings, deep cleaning for gum disease, X-rays, gum assessments, fluoride, sealants, and technique coaching.
What it does not offer is anything a dentist must do: fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, dentures, implants, or emergency treatment. If the examination finds a cavity or a broken tooth, the clinic will tell you and refer you on, but the treatment happens elsewhere. If a tooth hurts now, start somewhere else.
Prices vary program by program but sit well below private practice, and a flat fee covering every appointment is common. X-rays may or may not be included — worth asking. Appointments run long, two to three hours is normal, and clinics follow the academic year, so many close over the summer and between terms.
Other Accredited Hygiene Programs in Illinois
Illinois has 13 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale — Carbondale
- Parkland College — Champaign
- Malcolm X College — Chicago
- Prairie State College — Chicago Heights
- Carl Sandburg College — Galesburg
The full Illinois list has the rest.
Before You Call
Expect the clinic to have its own entrance, its own number and its own timetable, none of which match the college switchboard. Worth settling on the phone: whether they can treat you if you have not seen a dentist in years, how long one appointment runs, and how many the treatment will take, whether the fee covers a course of treatment or each visit separately, whether the clinic is open to the public this term, and taking new patients, and which payment methods are accepted, and whether insurance can be billed.
Hours and fees change from one term to the next, so confirm shortly before you go rather than relying on a page read weeks earlier.
Common Questions
Do I need insurance?
Generally not. These clinics are set up for people paying out of pocket, and the fee is usually low enough to pay directly. Insurance billing is the exception rather than the rule at a college clinic, so ask rather than assume.
Is a student cleaning as good as a professional one?
The work is slower and it is checked by a licensed instructor before you leave. Many patients find it more thorough than a routine private appointment for exactly that reason. What you give up is time, not care.
What should I bring?
Photo identification, a list of your current medications, your dentist’s details if you have one, and a means of payment that is not a card unless you have checked they take one. Some college clinics still do not.
Is it painful?
A deep clean on inflamed gums can be uncomfortable, and hygienists use local anesthetic for scaling and root planing where it is needed. Say at the start if you are sensitive; students are taught to work with that and have the time to go slowly.
Do they take Medicaid?
Sometimes, but college clinics bill insurance less often than health centers do. Adult dental coverage under Illinois Medicaid is set at state level and varies widely; children’s dental coverage is a required benefit everywhere. Our Medicaid dental page covers how to check yours.
What happens at the first visit?
An examination that is more thorough than you are probably used to — it is being graded — then usually X-rays and gum measurements before any cleaning starts. Some programs use the first visit for assessment only and book the cleaning separately.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2031. For a patient it is reasonable assurance that the supervision behind the clinic is held to a national standard. It is not a statement that the clinic is open.
Other Low-Cost Options in Illinois
- Community health center dental clinics in Illinois — full dental care including fillings and extractions, with fees discounted by household income.
- Dental schools in Illinois — cheaper than private practice for large amounts of work, slower than everything else, and selective about which cases they take.
- Free and charitable dental care in Illinois — volunteer and donated-care programs, with eligibility rules and limited places.
- How sliding-scale clinics work — who qualifies for an income-based discount and how to apply for one.
Other Dental Hygiene Programs Nearby
- Carl Sandburg College — Galesburg, IL
- College of DuPage — Glen Ellyn, IL
- Harper College — Palatine, IL
- Illinois Central College — Peoria, IL
- Illinois Valley Community College — Oglesby, IL