Temple dental school or NYU dental school

[faith101]

I have to finalize my decision soon so any input will be greatly appreciated!! I know similar threads exist but they don't offer the info I'm looking for and mainly talk about cost and location which are not major factors in my decision. Also, it's mostly predents replying, and I would like to hear from current dental students and current dentists. If you're a student there or know others who went to school there or if you're a dentist and can share some information, that'll be great! They're both expesive with Temple being a little less (I will be paying out of state in either school), so please there's no reason to mention costs...I know about it very well! Location is not a big factor in the decision, so please don't discuss that either. I would like to get input regarding the quality of education at both schools, strength of the programs and curriculum, overall experience, rankings (I know that no 'official/real' rankings exist for dental schools but some schools are typically more highly regarded than others). I'm interested in specializing at some point down the road, maybe not right out of school, but I want to keep my options open. If you can please share real/tangible information about each school, its curriculum, its opportunities, etc. Thank you!!

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[playa2652]

I think that if you are considering overall better dental school, go to Temple. Temple has better clinical skills than NYU and it is known among most of the dental community. I have a friend that is going to NYU and he is specializing in Pedo, but he didn't even know how to cut a crown properly towards the end of his second year in dental school and I sat down with him and showed him how to do one. Plus NYU will kick you out if you are failing. My AEGD program director does not accept applications from NYU, period.

At my dental school, you remediate until you get it right. They have kicked out people before, but that is if your hand skills completely suck or you are failing every course. I'm really shocked how they can charge such high exorbitant fees for their tuition at NYU and get away with it.

I feel that at Temple, you will get more faculty attention and learn really good clinical dentistry. Not sure about rankings at either school but class size affects your learning experience.

Finally, you can specialize by going to either school, its all tears and sweat that you demonstrate on your residency application that will help you get in. Nothing is easy and you have to work for it (I didn't match to ortho last year and this year I did, so it shows you that perseverance is a key factor in obtaining success)

 

[Ctdds]

I'd have to disagree with you on that. I got into all the schools I applied to up and down the east coast and went to Nyu since it allowed me to live a home and be close to my family. Only thing bad about it now is the debt you incure.

Clinical skills I developed far exceeded the skills I have seen from other dentists from any school in tristate area and Pennsylvania as well. If your friend couldn't cut a crown prep then maybe as you said their hands just sucked. Before the end of the first half of second year everyone I went to school with had that skill down pat. The experience I gained in Oral surgery endo and even prosthodontics exceeds skills of dentists I've worked with that did GPRS and AEGDS. Myself I didn't do either. I just put in the time, effort and money (I cut thousands of those typodont teeth) in to developing skills I have today. I did well over a hundred exo's, (aside from other more involved surgical procedures) I think at least 10 molar endos. If you want it you do it.

We can argue about how many times you should remediate an individual but in Nyu people did have the chance to remediate even if they failed the class and on practical a you were given more than one chance also, which is more than enough if you put the time and effort into becoming a skilled dentist.

And they don't throw you out for failing one, two or even three classes. Even the boards just like med school you get an extra chance. I mean you are gonna be a doctor right ? I don't even remember people having that many chances in undergrad.

Though temple is a good school in my opinion, location is horrible. I went on the interview and was told about how the dorm right behind school was shot at the week before etc. All of this by the guy who runs the day for you. I forgot his name. It's been years. Not really a place I wanted to be. Philly is great place but temple isn't in the best of locations.

Overall you get what you put in. If you want a place to go to and be allowed to fail multiple times then don't apply at all to any dental school. You shouldn't base your decision on that at all.
You should base it on debt you'll incure. I do sometimes wish i went to stonybrook just cause it was gonna cost me less than half of what i owe now. But I'm still happy in the long run
Any way just my rambling thought

 

[playa2652]

I agree with you Ctdds. I am not saying that ALL students from NYU are like my friend. Hell, I went to UCSF, which is considered one of the best dental schools in the nation, and I can name a few individuals who I would never trust with my own teeth. For myself, I spent most of my nights and weekends in the lab, practicing my butt off to further develop my handskills and eye for detail. It definitely paid off in the end.

I think your comment about debt is an important one, because I believe NYU and USC are the most expensive dental schools. Plus the interest is ridiculous for most people.

 

[TJNova2011]

1) Cheapest dental school 2) how many programs can beat temple's clinical experience? 3) why would you want to have 225 classmates or whatever it is at NYU. It's a very weak clinical education. Talk their attendings.

 

[faith101]

Everywhere I read, temple's clinicals are top notch. How about it's didactics? I haven't heard much about that. Can someone please chime in on temple's didactic curriculum?

 

[DrRam121]

Temple's didactically are good enough. I had no problems passing boards and even was accepted into a prosth program. They are revising their curriculum and implementing a more comprehensive one that cuts out the overlap between classes and integrates the rest. If you have any questions about temple, I just graduated from there last week.


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[faith101]

Congratulations! Since you have been through all four years at Temple, can you please honestly share the positives and negatives? People tend to be biased towards their schools and only post positives. I want to be informed about where they excel and where they lack. I know official rankings don't exist for dental schools but some school names are more highly regarded than others. What is the case with temple and nyu?

 

[DrRam121]

Temple is pretty good at teaching you general dentistry. They teach you a little bit of everything because it honestly feels as if they are training dentists for Podunk Pennsylvania. They are ok and getting better academically. The biggest problem for me was the patients are usually poor and getting them to pay for procedures after prices were raised was difficult. I don't know if they will address this before any undergrads reach clinic or not, but we honestly charged too much for most procedures. You will have no trouble getting most of your requirements done, it's just the 15 crowns and 6 root canals that seem to be the hardest due to the price and the population you treat.

Didactically they have been revising the course schedule and curriculum for 2 years now and are starting to implement the changes.

I enjoyed my time there and would choose it again (although dental school suck and it's difficult to explain why until you've been through it).




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[Ctdds]

About Nyu curriculum:
I felt it was top notch, I was very prepared for med school, which was a lot easier than dental school. I had no problem with dental or medical boards, when compared to lets say Stoneybrooke or Columbia students that takes their classes with med school students.

I did not have a tough time doing the crown and bridge requirements; did an 8 unit and a 4 unit aside from all individual crowns I restored. The group practice directors make sure everyone in clinic reaches these requirements before they get to do multiple bridges lets say. So there was enough to go around. It wasn't a challenge to have pts for implant crown restorations or over dentures. I did in total close to 20 endos. Clinic is what you make out of it, as is everything in life.

Nyu has changed a lot in past 10 years and for the best. I used to hate the place ( they were always adding new requirements and making us work harder) , but when I got out I realized how well prepared I was for my career.

 

[faith101]

I know both schools have great clinical programs. Are their clinical requirements similar or does one school have more? Also, does the location difference between the two affect the type of patients and cases you see?

 

[faith101]

When it comes to rankings, does one school have an edge over the other? Is one more highly regarded or more prestigious than the other or both are about the same?

 

[DrRam121]

I don't think they rank schools anymore.


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[GentleDoc]

I was a Temple student about 30 yrs ago. I also taught there p/t about 20 yrs ago. Having attended only one dental school in my life (thank God) I can only comment on my own experience and made recommendations accordingly.
When I taught there, my observation was that what was being taught vs. what I was doing in practice was about 10 years behind the times. Therefore, you might want to find out how the clinical experience compares to "the real world," as we used to call it.
Also, I've learned a lot about oral surgery over the years. IMO, knowing how to use a surgical hand piece to section teeth and remove bone is mandatory. As is the use of rotary endo equipment. See if either school offers you the chance to get this experience. See if you can talk to any recent grads about their student experience and how it translates into actual practice. Or, see if you can talk to any of their p/t faculty, if any, and have this discussion with them.
Also, you can be a smart and talented student doc, but if you can't get patients, you won't get the skills you need. Find out the clinical requirements for each school, then find out how you get the patients to fulfill those requirement.