Financing clinical dental education

Many reports have documented the growing financial challenges faced by dental schools. This article examines the financial implications of two new models of dental education: 1) seniors spend 70 percent of their time in community clinics and practices, providing general dental care to underserved patients, and 2) schools develop patient-centered clinics where teams of faculty, residents, and senior students provide care to patients. We estimate that the average dental school will generate new net revenues of about $2.7 million per year from the community-based educational programs for senior students and about $14 million per year from patient-centered care clinics. These are upper boundary estimates and vary greatly by school. The organizational and financial challenges of moving to these new educational models are discussed.