How to Become a New Patient At
University  North Carolina Dental School

The University of North Carolina Dental School supports Preventive Dentistry

PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY

WHY IS PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY IMPORTANT AND WHEN SHOULD
YOU START?

Preventive Dentistry means a healthy smile that requires fewer visits to the Dentist:

1. Eating becomes more enjoyable because healthy mouths chew more easily
   and gain more nutrients from the foods they eat.
2. You can also speak more quickly and clearly.
3. People with healthier mouths have a better chance of general health, because disease in the mouth can endanger the rest of the body.
4. A healthy mouth is more attractive, and you can have confidence that you are putting forth your best appearance.
5. Preventive Dentistry is the first step to becoming cavity-free.

Preventive dentistry begins Regular Tooth brushing.
The earlier your dental visit, the better the chance of preventing dental disease and reducing your time in the Dentist’s Chair
Visit your dentist for a complete examination to lay the foundations for having the best in dental health.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Dentistry
CB #7450, Brauer Hall
Chapel Hill, NC  27599
919-966-1161

1.       Admissions Drawing: Since we have many more people who would like to become patients than we could accept, potential patients need to first enter a monthly drawing. To enter the drawing, print an Admissions Drawing Entry (Tarjeta de Selección para Matriculación). The Admissions Drawing Entry may also be obtained on the ground floor of Tarrson Hall. At the end of each month, a limited number of entries will be drawn, and these people will be mailed an application. The entries not drawn will be discarded. If you submit an entry and do not hear from us by the 10th day of the following month, you should assume your entry was not drawn, and you may submit another entry. People who have unpaid balances or have been previously dismissed from the School will not be considered for the drawing.

If you need full dentures that will replace all of your upper or lower teeth, or are seeking an application for a child under 12 years old, you may skip the drawing. Instead, call 966-6474 to receive an application.

2.       Application: If you receive an application, you must return it within two weeks. On the application, you would indicate what treatment you think you need. The application will be reviewed to determine whether your needs satisfy the School's educational objectives. If so, you will be placed on a waiting list (0 to 6 months) for a screening appointment.

3.       Screening Visit: At the screening visit, your basic oral health status and treatment needs will be assessed. Admission will be denied if the treatment needs are too simple or too complex for our students to manage. Admission may also be denied if the information you provided on the application varies greatly from what is observed during the screening visit. If you are admitted for treatment, necessary radiographs (x-rays) will be completed the same day; therefore, you should allow three hours for this visit.

4.       Non-Discrimination: In accepting patients, the School does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, gender, national origin, age, or medical or physical challenges.

Next Steps After Admission: 
Meeting your Assigned Dental Student

1.       First Appointment: Once a patient has received a screening visit and has been admitted, the next appointment will occur in the Diagnosis and Treatment Planning Service, located on the third floor of Tarrson Hall. A patient who does not present for this scheduled appointment will not be allowed to reschedule and will be dismissed from the School.

1. Introduction to Student Dentist: Here the patient meets the student dentist who will be providing care. Assignment of student dentists is at the discretion of the School. Requests to change student dentists will not be honored.

3.       What Will Take Place During This Appointment: During this appointment, the student will perform a detailed examination under the supervision of faculty. If needed, consults will occur with specialists. Patients are encouraged to ask questions and openly discuss treatment options, the number of appointments required, and the costs involved.

4.       Treatment Plan: Following these discussions, a properly sequenced treatment plan will be developed so that the patient clearly understands how treatment will proceed. Patients who are not able to afford the recommended treatment need to state this, so that alternatives could be provided. Patients who begin planned treatment and later cannot pay for care will be subject to dismissal.

5.       Appointments: The student dentist will schedule appointments to begin treatment. If a patient does not show or cancels with less than 24 hours notice for any two appointments, that patient will be dismissed from the School.

New Patients

Completion of Care

1.       Completion of Care: Upon completion of all active care, patients receive a final treatment assessment and generally are entered into the recall system of the School.

2.       Scheduling of Recall Appointments: It is the patient's responsibility to contact the Preventive Recall Clinic (919-966-5909) to schedule periodic recall appointments.

3.       What Happens at Recall Appointments: At these periodic recall visits (usually every three to six months), there will be a thorough examination of the mouth, the teeth will be cleaned and any needed preventive care will be provided. Recall procedures are provided by dental or dental hygiene students under the supervision of faculty.

4.       Meeting New Treatment Needs: A patient who develops new treatment needs may be assigned to a student on a limited-care basis for treatment.

Urgent and Emergency 
Dental Care

The University of North Carolina School of Dentistry provides urgent dental care for our patients of record and the community at large.  The Urgent Care Clinic is primarily for patients who are experiencing moderate-severe pain not relieved by analgesics, have oral bleeding, or have facial/oral swelling.  Services are only provided to address the chief complaint   Follow up care for non dental school patients is not guaranteed.  While the urgent care service is not free, a modest fee is expected to be paid at the time care is provided.

Contact Your Student Dentist

If you have an urgent or emergent dental problem and have been assigned to a student dentist, contact him or her first. This will enable the student dentist to respond quickly to your problem as he/she knows your situation the best. It may also significantly minimize your waiting time.

Urgent Care During Normal Clinic Hours

If you are unable to contact your student dentist, or you do not have one assigned to you, call the Urgent Care Service at 919-966-2805 or 919-966-2806 between 8:00am and 5:00pm. Clinic treatment hours begin at 10:00am and 2:00pm (Monday-Friday). Clinic check-in times begin at 9:30am for the morning session and 1:30pm for the afternoon session. Patients must check-in before being seen.

Urgent Needs After Hours

Individuals with after-hours urgent needs should call UNC Hospitals at 919-966-4131 and ask for the dental resident on call. Patients should identify themselves as active patients of record in the School of Dentistry Student Dental Clinics.

The resident will discuss the problem with the patient by phone and, if it appears that the patient should be seen in the Hospital Dental Clinic, the resident will instruct the patient on how to 

 The School of Dentistry has substantially increased its community education over the past two decades. Today, it provides high-quality comprehensive oral health care to all socioeconomic and cultural groups in the state and region.

The School’s Dentistry in Service to Communities (DISC) program currently places all senior dental students in community-based, non-private practice sites for 50 days of clinical education. These clinical externships occur in a variety of public, not-for-profit sites that include county health departments, American Indian reservations, community health centers, VA clinics, correctional institutions, institutions for those with mental illness or developmental disabilities, and geriatric dental facilities.

Project Accomplishments include:

1. Expanded community-based, patient-centered clinical and experiential education to 50 required days in the senior year and hopes to reach a 60 day average for seniors in the Class of 2007.
2. Increased the number of community clinical sites for student rotations.
3. Strengthened and expanded the behavioral science curriculum consistent with the mission and goals of the Pipeline program. Programs include integrating distance learning, reflective and multimedia, and service learning components to better prepare students for community service.
4. Developed a distance-learning reading elective course for students working in community sites.
5. Expanded the existing Medical Education Development Program, an eight-week summer program for college juniors and seniors interested in pursuing a dental career.
6. Expanded the Science Enrichment Preparation Program, which prepares minority and economically disadvantaged college sophomores and juniors for health-related graduate and professional training programs.
7. Created a mentoring program for participants in summer enrichment programs that pairs summer students with current dental students. 
8. Created a joint URM/LI Recruitment Committee with the UNC School of Medicine.
9. Collaborated with nonprofit initiatives to raise awareness of career options in dental dentistry for minority and disadvantaged high school and college students.

University of North Carolina
School of Dentistry
150 Old Dental Building
Manning Drive and Columbia Street, C.B. #7450
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450
(919) 966-2788
Dean: Dr. John N. Williams