Accredited dental hygiene program
New York University College of Dentistry
345 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010
New York University College of Dentistry runs an accredited dental hygiene program in New York, NY. 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.
Before You Call
The patient clinic runs on its own hours and its own line, usually from a different building than the one the college address points at. Worth settling on the phone: whether the clinic is open to the public this term, and taking new patients, the total fee, and whether X-rays and follow-up visits are inside it, how long one appointment runs, and how many the treatment will take, whether children are treated, and from what age, and whether a screening or phone assessment comes first.
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
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.
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.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2032. Accreditation covers the teaching — curriculum, facilities and faculty — not whether a public clinic is open, what it charges, or how long the wait is.
Other Accredited Hygiene Programs in New York
New York has 11 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- SUNY Broome Community College — Binghamton
- Eugenio Maria De Hostos Community College — Bronx
- New York City College of Technology — Brooklyn
- Farmingdale State College — Farmingdale
- Plaza College — Forest Hills
The full New York list has the rest.
Other Low-Cost Options in New York
- Community health center dental clinics in New York — where to go for anything a hygienist cannot do. Fees follow your income rather than a price list.
- Dental schools in New York — 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 New York — 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
- Erie Community College, North Campus — Williamsville, NY
- Eugenio Maria De Hostos Community College — Bronx, NY
- Farmingdale State College — Farmingdale, NY
- Hudson Valley Community College — Troy, NY
- Mohawk Valley Community College — Rome, NY