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Accredited dental school

The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston

7500 Cambridge Street, Houston, TX 77054

School website Health centers in Texas

The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston is a dental school in Houston, TX 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. Texas has 4 accredited dental schools in total, listed on the Texas page.

What This School Publishes for Patients

This school screens new patients before taking them on. Being screened is not the same as being accepted: the school is deciding whether your case suits its students and its teaching schedule.

On fees, the school publishes $32 for an emergency consultation. Treatment beyond that is charged separately, so ask for the total before work begins.

Some insurance is accepted here. Plans and public programs change from year to year, so confirm yours by name rather than asking whether insurance is taken in general.

The school lists a patient line on 713-486-4000. That changes between academic terms, so check again shortly before you travel.

Common Questions

How is this different from a community health center?

A health center discounts by your household income and can usually see you sooner; a school discounts by using students and takes longer. If your income is low, the health center is often cheaper as well as faster. If you need a large amount of work and can wait, the school frequently wins on total cost. community health centers in Texas are listed here too.

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.

Can I come just for a cleaning?

Sometimes, but not always at the dental school. Several schools route simple preventive work to the dental hygiene program instead, where it is cheaper and quicker to get an appointment. If a cleaning is all you need, ask about that route first.

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.

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.

Can I get dentures made here?

Complete and partial dentures are among the treatments dental schools most often do, and the saving against private practice is usually largest on exactly this kind of work. The catch is laboratory costs, which are frequently billed on top of the discounted fee. Ask for the total, laboratory work included.

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?
  • What does the screening appointment cost, and how long is the wait for 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?
  • Does the quoted fee include laboratory work for crowns or dentures, which is often billed on top?
  • Are X-rays from your own dentist accepted, and how recent do they have to be?
  • How far ahead are they booking, and is there a cancellation list worth joining?
  • Are evening or Saturday appointments available, or is it weekdays only?

Accreditation

Status: Approval without Reporting Requirements, next reviewed in 2027. 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 Texas

Texas has 4 accredited dental schools altogether. If this one is full or the wait is too long, the others are separate institutions with separate lists:

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