Temple University Dental School Clinic

Been going here for nearly two years. Mainly because I need implants and cant afford them elsewhere. Two years later and many, many set appointments (and a few in which absolutely nothing was done due to a lack of communication between doctors and staff) I still dont have them.
If you need basic stuff like cavities and cleanings or have a ton of time to go up to north philly for no reason at all this is your place

I am going to a dentist who graduated from Temple and so very sorry that I started with her. Before they let cretins in at Temple they should at least require that they be able to READ and are not DEAF. I discussed my case with her in detail about what I wanted and even gave her a WRITTEN reminder before she began the work. She went and did the exact opposite in a way no competent dentist would have. TOO MANY DENTISTS ARE STUPID AND UNQUALIFIED AND THEY KNOW IT. Unfortunately the patient does not find out until AFTER THE FACT. Protect yourself by demanding references if you are having any level of involved work done. If the dentist refuses go else until you find one who is not ashamed of his «work.»

First, let me say I have NOT been to this dental school for anything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion about it.
I need a root canal and my own dentist wants $ 1450 for the procedure and the crown together. How much does Temple Dental want? OVER $ 1500. For what? To have some student who barely knows what they’re doing to root around in my mouth? My own dentist is fabulous and been in business 25 years and he wants a hundred bucks LESS than Temple Dental — AND Penn — for a root canal and crown.
What the fuck ever happened to getting free treatment from a dental school? If I’m going to have some student working on me, I’m sure not going to pay almost six months rent to do it. I have no choice but to go to my own dentist, who actually knows what he’s doing and is going to charge me less to do it.
It irritates me when people say they go to Penn or Temple for «cheap dental care» — what the hell is «cheap» about charging someone $ 1500 to put their trust in someone who doesn’t even have a degree yet?
Puh-​lease. Go here and to Penn Dental if you have money to throw out the window AND don’t mind waiting around for hours to be seen and traveling into a crack neighborhood. Good luck with that.

WARNING: Fragment stricken review!
–Opens at 6:30
— I was patient #12 when I arrived at 7:15
–They start calling people for «consultation» or whatever the «y r u here» questioning process is called by 7:30
–I was X-​rayed and in a chair to begin my extraction by 10:15
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3 hours and didn’t get my cracked back tooth pulled. Y? Because my gums were inflamed and I have to take antibiotics until next week so the numbing meds/​shots can work and to ensure I don’t get an infection (what I was told by the supervisor). I cried like noooooo bodies business when they attempted to pull it out and wanted them to finish so I didn’t have to come back; VERY POOR DECISION on my part and the story stops there as I was told the process is not suppose to be painful and they will see me next week after I take the pills prescribed.
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The students are coached throughout the entire process and it’s funny to see their attitudes when their redirected about something. It’s hard to take criticism sometimes, so I get it! Be prepare for the orchestrated «chat» while walking to make your $ 95.00 payment (for the uninsured. Would clearly never come here with paid insurance)
I will update once I go back for my appointment.

If you are at Temple Dental your most likely uninsured or do have insurance but you are broke. Temple Dental has emergency walk in service and you can also become a patient (case study). If you are coming here for emergency (with no appt) get here early. By early i mean 630 or earlier if possible. This place gets packed quickly. Odds are if you are a walkin area will be packed. I called and was told doors open at 7 (you might wanna check day before). I got there at 710 and there was already about 35 people in the waiting area. When you are called they will do a quick uptake and assessment. Since its packed most likely (depending on your situation) you will be giving antibiotics and pain pills and sent on your way. Also if possible avoid going on Monday or after a holiday when they tend to be the most busiest. You will be assigned a student Dr (this can take up to 2 weeks) for me it was exactly 2 weeks. In the interim i was called in so they could take X-​Rays while waiting for my student Dr. At this point it was determined i needed a graduate Endo since i had a previous infected root canal.
I worked with my Endo and the general student Dr that was assigned. Both of these guys where great and have nothing but high praise for them (Nate and Kevin). My infection initially did not want to go away. It took 2 rounds of antibiotics and 2 retrreats of my roots. These guys where both forth coming and called me several times. I also had a cleaning done in the process. Be up front with these guys and they will work with you. If you are going to be late call them and they will work with you most of the time. I unfortunately had some personal problems and had to stop seen Nate (beyond a cleaning and my reason for initial visit) and couldnt continue my treatments at the time.
I want to mention the parking here is a PITA. It is probably best if you can bring some one with you. This way that person can feed and or move the car. Consider your student dentists is still in training. Therefore he will not be as a quick as one that has a few years under his belt. So even a simple filling might take him/​her a while. As well all work is supervised and has to be checked off. Which would likely trigger more instruction and training from the professor. So a simple filling might take you to the 2 hour mark. Plus the paperwork and payment. Expect the meter maids to be out (in my six or so visits here i got ticketed twice). The vultures are always on the prowl in this area. The pricing here is decent but could be better. I was charged 575 for my retreat of a root canal and $ 70 for a filling. Overall they are extremely professional and my experience was pretty good. However the whole thing can be a process. I came here 3 times (including my emerg visit) before any work was actually started. I think if i had insurance i would probably go to a private dentist simply because its quicker and more convenient.

I am at the end of some very complex dental treatment at Temple Dental School. After a series of extractions, sinus lifts, bone grafts etc, I have complete state of the art implants and fixed prostheses — at a fraction (literally) of the cost of a for profit dentist. I elected to move to Temple Dental when my regular dentist retired. I had always thought that my dentist was competent and up to date — but his skills and facilities paled in comparison to those at Temple, where both equipment and treatment options are very cutting edge.
I found all the students and faculty who worked with me highly capable, responsive and compassionate. This is a different experience from going to a traditional dentist. Treatment takes longer and you might end up as somebody’s case study. But frankly I have come to prefer it — I suspect I am not alone in wondering if all the procedures I had in the past were either necessary or effective. I do know they were often very expensive. In contrast, at Temple everything was always explained to me, implemented with care, and at a reasonable cost.
I highly recommend going to Temple Dental for your next appointment!

I really don’t know where the negative opinions are coming from, because I’ve had NOTHING but AWESOME SERVICE, and VERY CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY PERFORMED dental work done since I have been going there, which has been about 3 years so far.
I started going there because my regular dentist dropped my insurance a few years ago, and I needed a very specialized type of treatment that I found out very few practices execute right now (and if they did, they charged WAY beyond what I could afford for it!). So after almost 4 years of searching, I went to where people kept recommending me to go to: Temple Dental school.
Let me clarify something first: there are two types of services there, Emergency and Student Assignment.
In Emergency, you come in as early as you can (7:00am seemed to be an good time to come, though some people come in as early as 5:30am), and you put yourself on a list. When the opening hours come (I forget exactly when they are, so check their website for the current times, please), you are taken in in the order you are on the list. SO, the earlier you come, the less you wait, and as of 07÷13÷12, 7:00am is still early enough!
With the second type of service, you sign up to be a patient for a currently learning student. They are on semesters, so they take a while to get situated with their own registration, etc, and then administration does the assigning, and then you go from there together. They let you know ahead of time in all the literature how long it might take to get you assigned to a student (it can be up to 3 months), and they offer the emergency Clinic as an option if you need to go in and see them sooner (which I ended up doing — I developed an emergency that couldn’t wait).
From what I see, the whole place is set up to be a pleasant, kind, honorable, place of learning (their motto is to serve people of all kinds from all walks of life, and to do it well — it’s on plaques all around the building), and they try really hard to make that happen. Yeah, I’ve seen a rude student, and had a complication once, but those are DEFINITELY the 2% you risk with the 98% good you have with ANY place you go to, no matter who, what, when, where, and how — that’s an everyday possibility of life.
School or no school, in my experience, these students, and the knowledgeable and caring professors (professionals in their field) that they have behind them, are hands down consistently outstanding in their bedside manner, skill of assessment, and thoroughness of treatment. The administrative staff is efficient, and security is polite — really, what more could you ask for in a dental service?
I think that if you have a good attitude, respect for others, and gratitude that you are getting world-​class service and dental treatment at a tiny fraction of what a regular practice will charge you, you’ll have a GREAT experience at Temple!

Going in to get my teeth cleaned is fine. I don’t mind having a student scrape away at my teeth, and I frankly can’t afford a fully-​trained dentist. I also really like my (woman, south asian) main dental student. More on that below.
I had a wisdom tooth removed, and that was a DISASTER. The young oral surgeon gave me anesthetic in not-​quite the correct spot and gave me a panic attack (a purely chemical one where suddenly my heart was pounding and I felt anxious). He then pulled a tooth out that was purple with bacteria. He did not give me an antibiotic.
A week later my face was swollen like a grapefruit was grafted under my skin, and the swelling was moving across my face. I called the number they gave me and spoke to the oral surgeon on call, who told me that my face must be swollen because I got up an hour ago, not because of the surgery.
When I called him back a few hours later, he continued to dismiss my concerns, saying that it «doesn’t sound like you have a major infection yet». When I was upset that he apparently wouldn’t rouse himself before I had a major infection, he said «I can tell you’re upset, I can just call you in an antibiotic if you want». First: this is incredibly condescending. second: You prescribe antibiotics because you think there is an infection, not because you don’t want to go in to work and you want the patient to stop complaining.
I went to the ER instead, and the doctor there was very concerned and spent an hour probing my face and draining my abscesses. He put me on antibiotics AFTER examining me, like doctors are supposed to, and lo and behold, 5 hours later, the swelling was down by half.
I then went to follow-​up appointments at the dental school, and one by one the dental students and supervisors told me this was «normal», and it happens all the time, but when they were talking among themselves they mentioned that the swelling might be from the surgeon hitting an artery when he gave me anesthetic, (which would also explain the panic attack) and if that’s what happened, I should have had an antibiotic that day. They also kept me on antibiotics for the next 4 weeks and had me come in for two more follow-​ups, for something they insisted was normal!
In addition to this specific disaster, the disrespect the dental students have for their charges is palpable. Maybe this is because I am white and present as middle class, but the white male dental students think it’s OK to say really classist things to me, like how they’re surprised my teeth are so good because «most people who come in here are messed up and half dead». When I told the student who first examined me that I had a college education, he asked «well what are you doing here then?» I’ll tell you: I’m here because I’m poor and don’t have another option. I suggest you don’t go here unless you’re in the same position.

Listen: if you’re at Temple Dental School, there’s a reason. Can’t afford a private practice dentist, only have two teeth left, don’t have transportation out of North Philly, are having a catastrophic emergency in your face, or all of the above. I fit into one or several of those categories! So I went to Temple.
The bad news: There is a waiting list (unless it’s a real emergency). The appointments take a long time. Getting in is a process, paying is a process, everything is a process.
Now all the good news: It’s cheap. Overlook the fact that students are working on your face, because honestly, they might never be try so hard again: they’re being watched by instructors. The students who worked with me were competent, compassionate, patient, and personable. I had a great experience there, and they even let me keep my wisdom teeth after the surgery.

Good for simple treatment — unacceptable for more complex cases. This is from my own personal experience, and yours may be different. Waiting time for an appt is 3 months. You are seen in «Screening Clinic,» where you are examined and have x-​rays taken. Then you wait again to be assigned to a student dentist and develop a treatment plan. Appointments take 3 – 4 hours because work is being checked by an instructor. It’s very rare that one gets the same instructor twice. By the time I finished my treatment nearly ONE YEAR after starting, the outcome was dreadful. Students are pulled from the clinic to go other places, leaving the patient waiting for weeks between appointments. The students are required to treat a certain number of patients per week, and they will call at the last minute, begging you to take an appointment!
Based on my experience, I’m worse off than when I started. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.