Accredited dental school
Temple University The Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry
3223 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140
Temple University The Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry is an accredited dental school in Philadelphia, PA. Dentists are trained by treating patients, which is why a dental school is often the cheapest place in a city to have a large amount of work done.
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. Pennsylvania has 3 accredited dental schools in total, listed on the Pennsylvania page.
What This School Publishes for Patients
The school mentions an income-based discount for patients who qualify. Ask what the eligibility test is and what documents to bring, since the terms are set by the school.
A pediatric clinic operates alongside the adult clinics. Minimum ages and waiting lists differ from the adult side, so ask about children separately.
The school lists a patient line on 215.707.2863 and clinic hours on its patient pages. Both change between academic terms, so check again shortly before you travel.
Common Questions
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.
How long will a course of treatment take?
Longer than at a private practice, and the gap widens with the amount of work. Individual appointments often run two to three hours because each stage is reviewed, and clinics slow down or close between terms. Someone needing several crowns should expect months rather than weeks.
How is this different from a dental hygiene clinic?
A hygiene clinic is staffed by hygiene students and does preventive work only — cleanings, X-rays, sealants, gum treatment. It cannot fill a cavity or pull a tooth. For preventive care it is cheaper and easier to book; for anything else you need the dental school or a dentist.
What if something goes wrong with the work later?
Schools generally stand behind treatment in the same way a practice does, and problems are reviewed by faculty. What differs is continuity: the student who treated you may have graduated. Ask what the policy is for remakes and repairs, and keep your treatment paperwork.
Is treatment free?
Usually not. Teaching clinics charge, and are best understood as substantially discounted rather than free. The lowest band is a reduced fee, not nothing. If you cannot pay anything at all, free and charitable dental care in Pennsylvania is the closer fit.
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 a Teaching Clinic Is Like
Dental schools usually run several clinics rather than one. Students handle routine general dentistry at the lowest fees; residents training in a specialty handle root canals, gum treatment, dentures, and oral surgery for more; faculty practices charge close to private rates.
The trade is time for money. Screening comes first and does not guarantee acceptance; appointments are two to three hours because each stage is checked; and treatment spanning several months has to work around the school 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
The patient clinic is often a separate operation from the school itself, with its own number and sometimes its own building. Worth a call before you set out.
- 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?
- Would your case go to the student clinic or a graduate clinic, and what is the price difference between them?
- What is the policy if you have to cancel or cannot make an appointment?
- Are evening or Saturday appointments available, or is it weekdays only?
Accreditation
Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2033. It reviews the program every few years against a national standard for teaching. Patient access, fees and waiting times are outside what it looks at.
Other Accredited Dental Schools in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has 3 accredited dental schools altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:
- University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine — Philadelphia, the same city
- University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine — Pittsburgh
Other Low-Cost Options in Pennsylvania
- Community health center dental clinics in Pennsylvania — priced against your household income rather than by using students, which makes them the better option if your income is low and your need is routine.
- Dental hygiene programs in Pennsylvania — teaching clinics for cleanings, X-rays, sealants and gum treatment at low cost. They do not do fillings or extractions.
- Free and charitable dental care in Pennsylvania — volunteer and donated-care programs, normally with eligibility rules and limited capacity.
- Pennsylvania state oral health program — the health department office that funds sealant programs and safety-net dental services in the state, and a useful place to ask about county-level help.
- How dental school clinics work — a general guide to screening, fees, and what to expect across the country.
Other Dental Schools Nearby
- University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine — Philadelphia, PA
- University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine — Pittsburgh, PA
- A.T. Still University Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health — Mesa, AZ
- Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine — Boston, MA
- California Northstate University College of Dental Medicine — Elk Grove, CA