Salina Tech dental clinic to open in January, offering affordable care by students

As part of its new dental hygiene program, Salina Area Technical College will open a clinic to the public in January with a focus on providing services to underserved communities.

The Salina Tech Dental Hygiene Clinic will give students the opportunity to build hands-on skills while providing Salina services like cleanings, whitening and sealants for a lower cost than the typical dental office.

Salina Tech has had a dental assistant program since the 1970s, but this fall was the first semester for its new hygiene program. After years of planning, the school was able to launch the sister program in an effort to meet a local need.

“We’ve been working for it for a long time,” said Brook Horner, director of Allied Dental Education. “It was a long process coming.”

Oral health at a significant discount

A standard teeth cleaning by a dental hygienist can cost anywhere from $75 to $200, depending on local rates.

But through the student clinic, costs will be much lower than usual. Beginning Jan. 11, the clinic will offer:

• Whitening — $20

• Sealant — $5 per tooth

• Cleaning for patients 15 years and older — $20 to $40, depending on the status of patient’s oral health needs

• Cleaning for patients 4-14 years old — $15

Salina Tech students and their immediate family will receive 50% off. The clinic's revenue goes back into the program to pay for equipment and supplies.

While the clinic will be open to the whole community, Horner said the clinic aims to serve those who may not ordinarily have the opportunity. The clinic will be able to make referrals to dentists for any restorative procedures patients may need that go beyond hygienist work.

“Anybody can come in, but we are hoping to see people who don’t have access to care out there be able to come in, and at a lower cost, get their teeth cleaned and get the hygiene that they need,” Horner said.

The clinic will operate during the school year, from noon to 3:30 p.m. on Mondays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Services are by appointment only. While the first semester of operation will be limited to those days, Horner’s long-term goal is to have the clinic open three or four days a week.

Appointments will typically last around three hours, Horner said, but with the longer wait time also comes a more thorough examination.

“They are students — they are just learning,” Horner said. “So there’s a lot of assessment that goes along as they’re learning how to do these things that ensures we’re giving the highest quality of care.”

Students will work under the supervision of licensed dental hygienists and a dentist who will check and approve their work.

Students applying their knowledge

The class sizes max out at 12 for the hygiene program, and in the first year, 10 people already are enrolled.

What students learn in the dental programs at Salina Tech depends on what they go in to study. In Kansas, dental hygienists work under the supervision of dentists who see patients, complete procedures and diagnose treatment plans based on patient needs. The patients are patients of record of the hygienist's supervising dentist. Compared to dental assistants, hygienists see patients more often, usually about every six months.

Dental assistants sit chairside with a doctor and do restorative procedures, like any fillings and cavities, or other repair and restoration work a patient may need.

Liliana Montes, a first-year dental hygiene student, said she finds dental work to be fascinating. She works as a dental assistant in Great Bend, Kansas, at Heart of Kansas Family Healthcare.

“I enjoy the clinic times and getting to clean my peers’ teeth,” Montes said. “I’ve always wanted to do this; I love teeth.”

Assisting Instructor Kate Benton helps lead the hands-on lab for students in the dental assistant program. Throughout this semester, she said, students have shown a visible passion for what they are learning in the labs.

“I think it’s going to be really fun and exciting,” Benton said of the upcoming clinic. “It’s so fun to see students grow and flourish.”

As the program grows, so does the need for faculty and staff to supplement it. They have hired three instructors already and are hiring for another dental hygiene instructor to start in the spring 2023 semester.

For more information about the clinic and to make appointments, call 785-309-3146 or email DentalClinic@SalinaTech.edu.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina Tech dental clinic will offer affordable care by students