Accredited dental hygiene program
Community College of Philadelphia
1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
In Philadelphia, PA, Community College of Philadelphia 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.
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.
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, which payment methods are accepted, and whether insurance can be billed, how far ahead they are booking, and whether there is a cancellation list, whether children are treated, and from what age, and what to bring — identification, medication list, previous X-rays.
All of it can change with the academic term, so check again close to the day.
Common Questions
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 Pennsylvania 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 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.
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.
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2031. 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 Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has 13 accredited dental hygiene programs altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Northampton Community College — Bethlehem
- Montgomery County Community College — Blue Bell
- Harcum College — Bryn Mawr
- All-State Career School — Essington
- Harrisburg Area Community College — Harrisburg
The full Pennsylvania list has the rest.
Other Low-Cost Options in Pennsylvania
- Community health center dental clinics in Pennsylvania — where to go for anything a hygienist cannot do. Fees follow your income rather than a price list.
- Dental schools in Pennsylvania — 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 Pennsylvania — volunteer and donated-care programs, with eligibility rules and limited places.
- Pennsylvania 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
- All - State Career School — Essington, PA
- Fortis Institute — Scranton, PA
- Harcum College — Bryn Mawr, PA
- Harrisburg Area Community College — Harrisburg, PA
- Lancaster County Career and Technology Center — Willow Street, PA