Accredited dental hygiene program
Bergen Community College
400 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ 07652
In Paramus, NJ, Bergen Community College trains dental hygienists in an accredited program. Because the training is hands-on, many programs operate a public clinic where preventive care is priced well below a private dental office.
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, whether a screening or phone assessment comes first, which payment methods are accepted, and whether insurance can be billed, where the clinic entrance is, and where to park, and whether the fee covers a course of treatment or each visit separately.
All of it can change with the academic term, so check again close to the day.
What a Hygiene Clinic Can and Cannot Do
The work here is preventive: scaling and polishing, scaling and root planing for gum disease, X-rays, gum measurements, fluoride treatment, sealants, and hygiene instruction.
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.
Fees are set by each program and are typically well under private rates, sometimes as one flat charge covering however many visits the treatment takes. Ask whether X-rays are included, because they are often billed separately. 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 New Jersey
New Jersey has 5 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Camden County College — Blackwood
- Middlesex College — Edison
- Eastern International College — Jersey City
- Rowan College at Burlington County — Mount Laurel
Common Questions
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.
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.
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.
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 if I have not seen a dentist in years?
That is a common reason to come here and not a problem in itself — heavy build-up is exactly what students need to work on. Expect more than one appointment, and expect to be referred on if the examination finds decay, since that is a dentist’s job.
Can I bring my children?
Many programs treat children and some run dedicated sessions for them, but minimum ages vary and not every clinic accepts them. Children often need a shorter appointment than the student schedule assumes, so ask before booking.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2027. 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 New Jersey
- Community health center dental clinics in New Jersey — the route for treatment rather than prevention: fillings, extractions and dentures, priced against what you earn.
- Dental schools in New Jersey — teaching clinics that do handle fillings, root canals, extractions and dentures at reduced cost, usually after a screening visit.
- Free and charitable dental care in New Jersey — volunteer and donated-care programs, with eligibility rules and limited places.
- New Jersey 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
- Camden County College — Blackwood, NJ
- Eastern International College — Jersey City, NJ
- Middlesex College — Edison, NJ
- Rowan College at Burlington County — Mount Laurel, NJ
- Albany State University — Albany, GA