Accredited dental school
New York University College of Dentistry
345 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010
New York University College of Dentistry is a dental school in New York, NY with an accredited predoctoral program. Dental degrees are earned in part by treating patients under supervision, so many schools run clinics that anyone can apply to as a patient.
Fees at a teaching clinic are set by the school and are usually well below private practice rates, though the care is reduced-cost rather than free. In exchange, appointments are longer and treatment can take more visits than it would elsewhere. New York has 6 accredited dental schools in total, listed on the New York page.
What a Teaching Clinic Is Like
Care is normally split between a student clinic doing general dentistry at the lowest prices, graduate clinics where qualified dentists train in a specialty and charge more, and a faculty practice priced near private practice.
Two things surprise most first-time patients. Nearly every school screens you before agreeing to treat you, and being screened is not the same as being accepted. And appointments run long — often two to three hours — because an instructor checks the work as it goes, so a course of treatment can take months and follows the academic calendar.
Our guide to dental schools and teaching clinics covers the screening process, how the discount works on laboratory costs, and what to ask before the first appointment in more detail.
Before You Call
Schools commonly keep the patient clinic on a different line, and occasionally at a different address, from the school office. Ask before you travel.
- Is the clinic open to the public right now, and taking new patients?
- Is a screening appointment required first, what does it cost, and how soon can you get one?
- Which clinic would handle the treatment you need — the student clinic, a specialty clinic, or the faculty practice — and does it have its own waiting list?
- What are the fees for that treatment, and do they include laboratory work for crowns or dentures?
- Is your insurance or Medicaid plan accepted, and is payment due at each visit?
- Which number reaches the patient clinic rather than the main switchboard?
- Where is the patient entrance, and what should you bring — identification, proof of income, previous X-rays?
- What is the policy if you have to cancel or cannot make an appointment?
- Are X-rays from your own dentist accepted, and how recent do they have to be?
Common Questions
Is sedation available if I am anxious?
Availability varies and it is rarely included in the quoted fee. Some schools offer nitrous oxide in the student clinic and deeper sedation only in a graduate clinic or through the hospital. If anxiety is the reason you have avoided treatment, say so at screening rather than on the day.
What if the school cannot take me?
A common outcome and not the end of the search. Federally funded health centers in New York, NY charge on a sliding scale by household income and can usually see you sooner. Dental hygiene programs handle cleanings and preventive work cheaply. Both are linked further down this page.
I am nervous about being treated by a student.
Worth knowing that the work is checked more thoroughly here than almost anywhere else, because it is being graded as well as treated. What you trade is time, not care. If it helps, ask whether a graduate clinic could take your case instead — you pay more, but the treatment is done by a qualified dentist.
Will a student be doing the work?
In the student clinic, yes, supervised by a licensed faculty dentist who checks the treatment at each stage and signs it off. In graduate and specialty clinics the work is done by a qualified dentist training in that field. Ask which clinic you would be assigned to, because it changes both the price and the wait.
Will I see the same person at every visit?
Usually yes for the student, which is one of the better features of this route: your case belongs to one person for the whole course of treatment. The supervising faculty member may change from session to session, and the practice varies by school.
Can I ask for a different student?
Usually not in the way you would change dentist at a private practice. Assignment depends on which students need your kind of case and who has capacity. You can raise a concern with the supervising faculty member, who is responsible for the treatment regardless of who is holding the instruments.
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 Dental Schools in New York
New York has 6 accredited dental schools altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- Columbia University College of Dental Medicine — New York, the same city
- Yeshiva University College of Dental Medicine — New York, the same city
- University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine — Buffalo
- Touro College of Dental Medicine — Hawthorne
- Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine — Stony Brook
Other Low-Cost Options in New York
- Community health center dental clinics in New York — fees scale to what you earn, and being uninsured is the ordinary case rather than an obstacle. Generally quicker to get into than a school.
- Dental hygiene programs in New York — the cheapest cleanings available anywhere, with the hard limit that a hygienist cannot treat decay.
- Free and charitable dental care in New York — genuinely free where you qualify, but the criteria are narrow and waiting lists close without notice.
- How dental school clinics work — a general guide to screening, fees, and what to expect across the country.
Other Dental Schools Nearby
- Columbia University College of Dental Medicine — New York, NY
- Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine — Stony Brook, NY
- Touro College of Dental Medicine — Hawthorne, NY
- University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine — Buffalo, NY
- Yeshiva University College of Dental Medicine — New York, NY