Accredited dental hygiene program
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
179 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5896
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences runs an accredited dental hygiene program in Boston, MA. 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.
Before You Call
Teaching clinics are usually in the college’s health sciences building rather than at the main campus address, and they keep their own hours and phone line. Worth settling on the phone: whether children are treated, and from what age, how long one appointment runs, and how many the treatment will take, the total fee, and whether X-rays and follow-up visits are inside it, whether the clinic is open to the public this term, and taking new patients, and whether the clinic closes over the summer or between terms.
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.
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 Massachusetts
Massachusetts 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:
- Bristol Community College — Fall River
- Mount Wachusett Community College — Gardner
- Middlesex Community College — Lowell
- Springfield Technical Community College — Springfield
- Cape Cod Community College — West Barnstable
The full Massachusetts list has the rest.
Common Questions
Why is it so much cheaper?
Because you are part of the training. Students need patients to qualify, and the clinic exists to give them that experience under supervision. The trade is your time for their practice, which is why the appointment is long and the price is low.
What if this clinic cannot see me?
Other low-cost routes exist in Boston, MA. community health centers in Massachusetts discount fees by household income and provide full dental care rather than preventive work alone. For treatment a hygienist cannot do, dental schools in Massachusetts are the other reduced-cost option. Both are linked further down this page.
Do they take Medicaid?
Sometimes, but college clinics bill insurance less often than health centers do. Adult dental coverage under Massachusetts 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.
How long will the appointment take?
Two to three hours is normal, and some programs split what a private hygienist would finish in one visit across two. The student works carefully and stops for an instructor to check the work, often more than once. Allow the whole morning or afternoon.
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 the clinic open all year?
Usually not. Teaching clinics follow the academic calendar, so many close over the summer and between terms, and appointments are scarce early in the year while students are still building up their skills. Booking several weeks ahead is normal.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2031. That is a judgment on the education, not on the clinic: it says nothing about opening hours, prices or whether anyone is being taken on.
Other Low-Cost Options in Massachusetts
- Community health center dental clinics in Massachusetts — the route for treatment rather than prevention: fillings, extractions and dentures, priced against what you earn.
- Dental schools in Massachusetts — 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 Massachusetts — 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
- Bristol Community College — Fall River, MA
- Cape Cod Community College — West Barnstable, MA
- Middlesex Community College — Lowell, MA
- Mount Wachusett Community College — Gardner, MA
- Quinsigamond Community College — Worcester, MA