Accredited dental hygiene program
University of Maryland School of Dentistry
650 W. Baltimore Street, Suite 6402, Baltimore, MD 21201
University of Maryland School of Dentistry is a college in Baltimore, MD 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
What if this clinic cannot see me?
Other low-cost routes exist in Baltimore, MD. community health centers in Maryland discount fees by household income and provide full dental care rather than preventive work alone. For treatment a hygienist cannot do, dental schools in Maryland are the other reduced-cost option. Both are linked further down this page.
Can I use this instead of seeing a dentist at all?
Not really. A hygiene clinic maintains the teeth you have; it cannot diagnose and treat what goes wrong with them. Think of it as the cheap way to keep up preventive care, alongside a dentist you see when something needs fixing.
Can I get a filling at the same visit?
No. Fillings are outside a hygienist’s scope entirely, so even a small cavity found during your cleaning has to be treated somewhere else. Plan for two separate appointments at two separate places if you suspect you need one.
Can I be turned away?
Some programs screen patients first, by phone or at a short visit, to check the case suits the students’ stage of training. Heavy deposits or advanced gum disease may be assigned to a more experienced student or referred out. It is not personal; it is a teaching schedule.
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.
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, whether the fee covers a course of treatment or each visit separately, what to bring — identification, medication list, previous X-rays, whether they can treat you if you have not seen a dentist in years, and how far ahead they are booking, and whether there is a cancellation list.
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 2026. 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 Maryland
Maryland has 8 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Baltimore City Community College — Baltimore, the same city
- The Community College of Baltimore County — Baltimore, the same city
- Anne Arundel Community College — Arnold
- Howard Community College — Columbia
- Allegany College of Maryland — Cumberland
The full Maryland list has the rest.
Other Low-Cost Options in Maryland
- Community health center dental clinics in Maryland — these treat what a hygiene clinic can only diagnose, and they discount by household income.
- Dental schools in Maryland — the reduced-cost route for real treatment. Expect a screening visit first and a course of work measured in months.
- Free and charitable dental care in Maryland — volunteer and donated-care programs, with eligibility rules and limited places.
- Maryland 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
- Allegany College of Maryland — Cumberland, MD
- Anne Arundel Community College — Arnold, MD
- Baltimore City Community College — Baltimore, MD
- Fortis College - Landover — Landover, MD
- Hagerstown Community College — Hagerstown, MD