UT Dentistry Center for Oral Health Care & Research

My wife's first experience with UT School of Dentistry did not instill much confidence after the student and faculty did not provide the best of care back in 2019. We thought we'd give it a try again to see if it was better and since it's 60% cheaper and we don't have insurance. Plus coverage doesn't provide for extensive work. Fast forward to October 2024 and we were assigned to UT graduate student Nikhil Kalla. He was very good explaining the exam/diagnosis findings with clarity and confidence. He communicated with us via text and replied usually less than 20 minutes. Always asked how she was doing during each procedure. Completed all dental work in 4-5 visits to include root canal, filling and crown. His meticulous attention to detail definitely gained our confidence and we remained in his care throughout. The procedures would be from 1-3 hours long but we never wanted him to rush and you can kind of expect that with senior faculty oversight. He guided and provided instructions to two sophomore student assistants. He worked well communicating with Dr Garretson faculty staff. He will be graduating in May so if there's any chance you can get him ask the front desk personnel. Every time we went in the afternoon the entire sitting room was filled with patients. We do not have insurance and the total work pictured below was $1,695 but our total came to $1,560. We had another dentist in Nuevo Laredo, MX write up their findings and they quoted us in pesos converted to $4,100 and didn't address all of her needs plus she had a resin filling that fell out within 1 week. The dental work done at UT School of Dentistry is guaranteed for 1 year. We can say with great confidence Nikhill Kalla will have a successful and bright career in general dentistry and yes we would trust him with our future dental needs. Great experience overall and highly recommended. Save those $$$ because you know insurance does not cover some extensive procedures.

Most of the ladies at the front desk seem really rude. They keep giving me an attitude and running me around in circles so I end up not being able to get my question answered. They called me from their number twice, but I missed their call. When I tried to follow up they then said that the Dr who's caller ID showed up when I was called doesn't work there and I need to call back. What?! I already did, twice. Who is calling me then?! Yet another incompetent doctor's office I'm stuck in a loop with. They just keep giving me calls I can't return. They refused to schedule anything with me, I just kept getting told "We'll call you back". What the hell does that mean? Give me a time so I can actually pick up and you stop calling me, but then saying you didn't.

If you love being told “we will email you” and then NEVER being contacted again, this is the place for you! I understand these are students, but I have tried for months to be seen and NOTHING. I have called 5x and every time i was told i would be contacted and crickets. The staff needs to get better hold on communication. I loved my student dentist, but everything else was terrible. Appointments canceled without being told, accidentally scheduled me as a new patient so i was denied, and being told “that’s beyond me”.

This institution has shown a clear disregard for accountability and patient safety, prioritizing its reputation over the well-being of those it serves. Egregious medical errors have occurred, yet efforts are made to conceal them rather than address the issues transparently. When things go wrong, patients are left vulnerable and without recourse. Leadership, including Hailey Mullican (Chief Legal Officer) and Dr. Loomer, fails to hold practitioners accountable, which is deeply concerning and undermines trust in healthcare. This is not a safe environment for patients when mistakes happen.

I went through the orthodontics program for my teenage son. On my initial visit the front desk didn't even look at me or speak to me for a good 7 minutes while I stood by and listened to them gossip. Could clearly be seen. Anywho... I went with the process and did the initial visit for teeth cleaning. I then scheduled a braces consultation visit. Mind you I paid $180 for his panoramic imaging at his initial cleaning visit due to insurance reasons. Then I'm informed it's another $275+ for the braces consultation and he has to have the same images he already had taken again and, no discount. I get it cool right. NOPE. I was informed on his braces consultation which was in March that someone would follow up in 6-8 weeks. Mind you it's now the beginning of August, still no call. I did forget ya know, life happens, but what really gets me is I called today to see what was going on and I was informed the resident handling my son's case graduated. So...... Why is it that no one has even went thru his case, was the paperwork not turned in, was the file lost, what was really going on? Of course I will never know. The woman I spoke with today stated to me she would reach out to someone who sounded official but they were all in a meeting. Supposed to get a call back by next Thursday. Not even counting on it. Which is sad because I have already invested time and money here for braces they are unconcerned to help with.