discounted or free dental care at UNC (schools, income)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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From what I found out, some of the schools do give discounted rates. If you can't afford it try, Urban Ministries of Wake County (http://www.urbanmin.org/services/opendoor.php - broken link). They may help if you qualify by income. Also, try this http://www.rwcds.org/wake/about.htm.
here is a link on how to become a patient, it looks like you can go to the faculty clinic, or if you so choose the student clinic (it take a bit longer to get fillings done because the student works on you then the faculty has to check their work, etc), it does seem to take a while to become a patient, but here is the link
I was a patient at the student clinic when I was in school there. It was a long process to get approved then, and I looked again at the criteria recently and it seems even more involved. There's a specific time of the month that you can call for an application. Then it's like a lottery I believe for a screening appointment. If you're selected, you come in for an evaluation and they develop a treatment plan. The key is your needs have to be in the middle of simple and complex. They don't want to have people with problems too difficult for the students to handle, but they want something more than a simple cleaning or filling. Once you're selected, you have to be available for 1 appointment a month, each appointment slot lasts 3 hours I believe. If your treatment plan included more in depth treatment, then you have to be available whenever they want you. The fees are greatly reduced, but not completely free. For instance, my DH got his wisdom teeth out there for about $200 with anestesia. I had a lot more things done, a couple root canals, fillings, etc. I remember it being more than I thought it would have been, but certainly less than a regular doctor. If you don't mind being a guinea pig with your mouth open for 3 hours while tons of people are looking, poking and proding in your mouth, then go for it. It was great while I was in school, especially since I went to school there so it was convenient, but I don't think I could do it again!
I went to the dental school because two separate dentists told me that I probably would need a crown where I had a filling at some future point... I like to handle things proactively and a crown would cost a few thousand with a normal dentist, so I tried the dental school.
I had to apply four or five times, once a month, before I finally was chosen in their "lottery"; professors initially looked at me to decide if I was right for the students... the professors thought that I didn't direly need a crown, but it wasn't bad for me to get it and could be a good thing, so they went ahead with the treatment.
You will have one appointment, the first with your student, where they just catalog every single tooth in your mouth and its location and condition. I probably had to go five different times for my crown, three hours each time, but the whole thing probably cost me only about $300 compared to $3,000. I had one problem with the crown coming off over a weekend, but they got me in on an emergency basis and took care of it for free. My crown was a tricky case, because I had a very short tooth to work with and there wasn't much tooth there after they ground it down for the crown. I have a very nice dental student who was just lovely and sweet. Most patients are above 60 years old, so at 24/25 I stuck out like a sore thumb.
As far as the dentistry goes, it can be annoying having things finished up and just sitting there waiting for the professor to come by. However, I would put the level of dentistry above that of some professional dentists I've been to. I was pleased. I also had one crown filled for free by a graduating student who needed a patient for her boards exam in order to graduate. She was more experienced than my other student (you usually get placed with a second-year or third-year student to start) and according to the professional visiting dentists from other states who were doing the boards grading, she did a great job with it.
I'm looking into their orthodontics program right now, but I don't believe they have the kind of braces that I want (ceramic ones on the back of the teeth), so I'll probably bypass their system for that.
Overall, if you have the time to be able to go for three hours at a time (I have a flexible schedule with work so it works fine for me that way), I would recommend it for saving money compared to a regular dentist. Unlike experiences I've had with medical clinics at Duke, UNC does not comp your parking, so I always have to pay for parking in the Dogwood deck if I drive.
My husband (a dentist) also looked for patients for his boards....and yeah, they pay you $100 just to show up...and they'll also book back-ups in case their original "cavity" doesn't show up My husband's patient never showed up on the day of his boards, but he was lucky to find another student who had a backup show up
My husband (a dentist) also looked for patients for his boards....and yeah, they pay you $100 just to show up...and they'll also book back-ups in case their original "cavity" doesn't show up My husband's patient never showed up on the day of his boards, but he was lucky to find another student who had a backup show up
I did this in NJ at UMDNJ. I was a patient and one of the students asked me to be her patient for the exams and she paid me 150.00 plus I got a free cleaning. From what I understood it was a very costly exam for them to take.
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My husband's patient never showed up on the day of his boards, but he was lucky to find another student who had a backup show up 
Dental
