Accredited dental hygiene program
Wichita State University
1854 North Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260-0001
Wichita State University is a college in Wichita, KS with an accredited dental hygiene program. Hygiene students qualify by treating patients, so many programs open a teaching clinic to the public where a cleaning costs a fraction of the private price.
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.
Common Questions
Will they take X-rays?
Usually yes, and often as part of the assessment rather than on request. Whether they are included in the quoted fee or billed on top varies by program, and it is frequently the difference between a cheap visit and a less cheap one. Ask when you book.
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 Kansas 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 a Hygiene Clinic Can and Cannot Do
What a supervised hygiene clinic offers is the preventive side of dentistry — cleanings, deep cleaning, X-rays, gum health checks, fluoride, sealants, and coaching on technique.
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.
Each program sets its own price, usually well below a private practice, and some charge a single fee for the whole course of treatment. Check whether X-rays are part of it. Appointments run long, two to three hours is normal, and clinics follow the academic year, so many close over the summer and between terms.
Before You Call
The clinic is rarely at the address the college publishes for itself — it is normally in the health sciences building, with a separate line and separate hours. Worth settling on the phone: where the clinic entrance is, and where to park, which payment methods are accepted, and whether insurance can be billed, whether a screening or phone assessment comes first, whether children are treated, and from what age, and how long one appointment runs, and how many the treatment will take.
Term dates move these details around, which is why a call the week before is worth more than one a month ahead.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2028. It reviews the program every few years against a national standard for teaching. Patient access, fees and waiting times are outside what it looks at.
Other Accredited Hygiene Programs in Kansas
Kansas has 4 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Flint Hills Technical College — Emporia
- Johnson County Community College — Overland Park
- Salina Area Technical College — Salina
Other Low-Cost Options in Kansas
- Community health center dental clinics in Kansas — these treat what a hygiene clinic can only diagnose, and they discount by household income.
- Free and charitable dental care in Kansas — volunteer and donated-care programs, with eligibility rules and limited places.
- Kansas state oral health program — the health department office behind school sealant programs and safety-net dental services in the state.
- How sliding-scale clinics work — who qualifies for an income-based discount and how to apply for one.
Other Dental Hygiene Programs Nearby
- Flint Hills Technical College — Emporia, KS
- Johnson County Community College — Overland Park, KS
- Salina Area Technical College — Salina, KS
- Albany State University — Albany, GA
- All - State Career School — Essington, PA