Dental students started doing screenings at UF’s College of Dentistry in December and will continue through March. The screenings seek to find students with certain requirements, who will in turn receive a free exam.
Because of the requirements, it is not a comprehensive exam.
Dental students screen potential patients in the months leading up to the dental board exam, which they must take to get their dental license. Senior dental students must complete two fillings and a deep cleaning to pass the board exam.
Dental services are not provided by the Student Health Care Center, Catherine Seemann, the communications director of the SHCC, wrote in an email. Students in need of dental care are referred to the College of Dentistry. Exams start at $75.
The dental students have had two years of preclinical practice, passed written boards and class exams and are certified by the college before taking the board exams, said Suzanna McAninley, a senior in the UF dental school.
The 29-year-old said she will take the board exam this year and has been screening potential patients to find someone who qualifies.
“The best patients are the 20- to 30-year-olds that may or may not be on their parent’s insurance, so they haven’t gone to the dentist in a few years, and they’re otherwise healthy,” McAninley said.
The screenings and procedures are monitored by faculty members.
Matthew Kleckner, a UF information systems junior, wrote in an email he is having two cavities filled and thinks this program gives students affordable options for dental care.
“The reason I went to get the screening was that I liked the idea of getting dental work that my parents didn’t have to pay for,” the 21-year-old said.
