Carrington College

I am a student who just graduated with an associate’s degree in Dental Hygiene.
I am happy with the education and experience and would definitely recommend the program.
The Pros:
–The clinical faculty and staff are EXCELLENT! And good at what they do — they genuinely care about the success of their students.
–The teachers for the general education classes are EXCELLENT!
–The clinic is free to patients. ACTUALLY FREE
This is important because in most programs the patients have to pay and you are responsible for finding your own patients. If the patient’s can’t pay a fee and you still need a patient YOU end up paying that fee. Not at Carrington. You will never pay a fee for your patients to receive treatment.
–They schedule your patients for you! You are ultimately responsible to have a patient and your grade can be penalized if you don’t have one, but in my two years in the program I had to find my own patient twice. That’s it. Mrs. Lakefield is amazing.
–The total for your program is all inclusive. It will likely even be less than they quote you if you are smart about it and plan ahead and/​or don’t need gen-​ed classes. (see the «books» part under cons)
–They are actually the same price as other programs despite seeming like more when you get the initial number. Remember: everything is included so you don’t rack up all the extras like you will in other programs. You don’t pay your patients to get treatment if they can’t afford it — your supplies are provided by the school (gowns, anesthesia, gloves, etc.)
–They push you to success and prepare you VERY WELL.
100% of our class passed our clinical boards and I think 100% passed the written National boards.
–The clinic and campus is on one building. It’s awesome. No driving around to sixteen buildings to get where you’re going.
–There are excellent resources to help you if you are having trouble. The older classes will guide you and they will help you set up tutoring (free) if you need it.
–The prerequisite classes you need are available as part of the program
–You go through the whole program with the same people (about 30) so your class becomes a little family. It’s nice.
–And seriously, The staff: AMAZING. I have learned so much from them. It’s so apparent that they love what they do.
–They follow up to get you working! Once you graduate they help you get a job. I think everyone in out class is working already. (Most before I’m writing this, which is 1 – 2 months after graduation)
The Cons:
–They put serious pressure on you to buy the most current edition of a book and/​or to buy books you don’t need. When I say serious pressure I mean they all but say you are not allowed to buy books elsewhere.
At orientation they have a stack of books and they make you sign for them, about ¹⁄₃ of them you never use. I know of three students in my class and two in other classes that had to pester people for WEEKS in order to get a book list before orientation, they make it really hard to get it. They bought books off the list, then at orientation they were told those editions were no longer approved because they changed the editions since giving them the list.
For the most recent class the book gal wouldn’t even let students take a picture of the book list — a document they had to SIGN! (though she’s no longer with the school)
Most students don’t want to rock the boat, especially at the start of a program, so they just let themselves be bullied by this policy. AND it’s not even an actual policy. There is nothing ANYWHERE in any of the handbooks or policies that says you have to buy the books from the school or have specific editions. In fact it’s illegal for a program to make students buy books only from them.
They also up-​charge for books. Most of the current editions are on amazon brand new for about 80% of the school price, way less if you bought them used! I did not want to buy most of my books through the school and they made it such a big deal that in order to avoid a problem I finally just borrowed a friend’s «approved» books to show them I had them so they would leave me alone about it. I saved over $ 3,000.
I used previous editions (1 – 3 editions behind the newest editions) for ALL but my first semester classes; I graduated with a 3.75 GPA.
The books thing really really bothered me. It still does. This was my only real issue with the program — and it’s not even about the actual program!
Do your research and be ready to feel uncomfortable if you want to get your books elsewhere. This is the ONLY reason for 4 out of 5 stars.
–It’s not a traditional college so there is some bureaucratic runaround in the administrative side of the school. You need to be organized and ready to haunt someone to get things done. Once you know who you need they are pretty good at getting back to you, though you do sometimes have to be persistent as they are a bit understaffed in my opinion.
The takeaway:
It’s a great school and is definitely worth the investment.

A friend recommended Carrington College for a dental cleaning. WOW, now I understand why.
This was the most thorough cleaning I’ve ever had. The cleaning, X-ray’s (360 and panoramic), plaque measurements, tooth measurement (grinding) AND fluoride treatment were all done for… FREE.
As for the staff, the students, teacher, Dr., receptionist were all so delightfully professional. They are also real people with a good sense of humor.
My first appointment was 3 hours. No problem! I’m told that the next appointment in 6 months will go much faster. All the preliminary stuff is done.
The patient has to call the school in 6 months to schedule the next visit. No problem! It’s in my calendar.
This was an amazing experience!!! I’d give them a 10!
I felt like a patient and not just $$$ walking in the door.

Free dental? Yessirrr. I paid over $ 500 the last time I saw a dentist elsewhere, and I take very good care of my teeth… so I had to check this place out. I see people writing negative comments, and well, here’s the deal. If you haven’t been brushing and flossing then you were probably going to spend 3 hours at the regular dentist Anyway, so to think a student inside a hands on lesson where their instructor checks their work is going to be able to do it in less than that for Free… is not very practical. I didn’t really know what to expect going in, because I’ve just always gone to the ol’ dentist on an insurance plan, but I don’t have insurance at the moment so I thought I’d give it a shot. Scheduling was super easy, I got an appointment within a week. You really want to stick to your appointment, or give them 3 full business days notice if you need to cancel, or I’m pretty sure you get turned down for appointments in the future. Apparently the student gets a 0 if you don’t show up… which I don’t believe… that would be harsh… but still it’s a big hassle for them so show some respect for freeeeee dental yeahhhh! Appointment started on time, very clean facilities with what appears to be the latest equipment. Which was surprising because the college is in perhaps the roughest part of town. I was very glad to see the students consisted of 99% female. If someone is going to be hovering over me like that I would rather it be a feminine energy, just personal preference. She was perfect. Cared about her performance, thorough, gentle, just a really cool person. There were 2 instructors checking her work and floating around to the different stations where others are being worked on. They were very competent and thorough in checking her work. I brush at least twice a day, and usually floss once a day so even though I hadn’t been to the dentist in a couple years my mouth was in really good shape. You really should only need someone to go in there with a spike every couple years or so to get those almost impossible to reach places. So my appointment only lasted like 2 – 3 hours, if that. They did x-​rays, checked a bunch of other stuff, and said that I could get copies of my x-​rays at any time. From what I understand, future visits take even less time. You can opt out of the fluoride treatment, too… which you should because it’s a neurotoxin :0

I think this place is just «ok». Everyone seems very nice but I feel as though they only care in the beginning. I had went in for an orientation for the dental hygiene program. I was sold… At the time. This is by far the most expensive dental hygiene program you can get into. It runs about $ 60,000, while others run about $ 40,000 or less depending on where you look. The facility for hygiene looks wonderful and is very huge. The only thing that made me not go here is the getting through the process of getting admitted part. The advisor for hygiene did not really help much. Hard to get a hold of and honestly seemed like he can care less if you get in or not. Reason I say this is because I have contacted him numerous times on admission and stated that the woman to get a hold of to take the exam did not and does not respond back. I think this whole experience was just a sign not to attend this school. By all means, I feel that they have done a lot for most people but I feel that they can brush up a bit on admitting students and making the application more better than this.

I love this Carrington College! I have been there 5 or 6 times now. Each experience has been wonderful. This is a teaching college so all appointments are made for 3 – 4 hours however very few take that long. My last visit was 1.5 hours and included X-​rays, a compete examination, and a thorough cleaning with a fluoride treatment. The excellent staff included my favorite hygienist (Kelley), her kind instructor Ms. Moraca and a wonderful, good-​natured dentist, Dr. Hoyner. ALL services are FREE and patients are allowed one visit every 3 – 6 months. Thank you Carrington College for making this such a wonderful and valuable service!

I have gone there 4 times, it’s very thorough and the cleanest my teeth have ever been. Once you do the first 2 appointments, which I am pretty sure they told me it would take two visits, the follow-​up appointments are much faster (under 2 hours), The only downside is, it may be difficult to get an appointment. I wasn’t able to get in for a 6 month cleaning, so then I went to the dental school for my cleaning (I think it was only $ 35) so definitely not bad. But not as good as free. ;)

I don’t understand people sometimes, take for example Susan above. Get’s something for free and they do a great job yet still finds a way to complain and disparage. I had a local dentist quote me $ 1500 for cleaning, x-​rays, dental exams etc. Well, Nicole, the girl who I had several visits did an excellent job taking care of me. I would highly recomend going here, but do remember it will take some time. Clean, new equipment, and the teacher that checks the work really knows what they are doing. Unless Susan’s time is worth more than $ 200 per hour — highly doubt it — or the readers time is more prescious than money than don’t go. If you need free dental work, run don’t walk, it is the best deal out there. I will always go back!

Free dental care — you get what you pay for???
I don’t have dental insurance so when I saw this dental hygienist school offered free dental exams, x-​rays, and cleanings; I made an appointment. When I made the appointment, the lady on the phone told me that my appointment might last two or three hours because the students are learning and a supervisor must check their work. All of that turned out to be true. But, there are some good and bad things worth mentioning about my experience.
The Good:
Yes, it really is FREE. There are no hidden charges or fees. Also, the clinic is clean with up-​to-​date instruments and equipment. The staff is professional and friendly. The students are polite and eager to learn; their supervisors are attentive and competent.
The Bad:
Yes, my dental appointment lasted three hours. But at the end of those three hours, I had NOT had my cleaning. Yes, after three hours of poking and prodding, there was no time left for the actual teeth cleaning. So, I had to make a follow-​up appointment another day. That second appointment lasted another three hours. So, in a nutshell, it took a full six hours of examination and tests to finally get my teeth cleaned.
How could it possibly take so long? Well, the first hour involved complete medical history, blood pressure, pulse, physical examination of head, neck: from the top of my head and down to my collar bone, even including my ears! Then came in exam of the soft tissues inside my mouth: cheeks, above and below tongue, roof of mouth, tonsils, etc. When this was done, the supervisor performed it all again. The second hour, the student examined my teeth, slowly and methodically one by one. X-​ray time brought its’ own set of challenges: first x-​ray teeth and film were not lined up correctly, same with the second attempt, finally got it right on the third try. Following the now successful x-​ray, the poking and probing and electronic charting (oh my the endless charting) was performed and repeated again with the supervisor. Lastly I chewed those red pills to identify potential hygiene problems. But alas, alas, the three hours was over and I had to set up another appointment. I won’t go into the details of the second appointment, but suffice it to say that it was just as long and arduous as the first.
To end this drawn out ordeal on a somewhat positive note, despite my aching neck, crunching jaw, and chapped lips, I now have beautifully squeaky clean teeth and the assurance that they have been thoroughly examined and turned out to be normal.