Indiana University- home to the Hoosiers, Kilroy’s, and a world-class dental school in the heart of Indianapolis. The University of Michigan- home to the Wolverines, Skeeps, and the consistently number-one-ranked dental school in the world. Academically, both are impressive. But how do they compare in regards to community outreach? Both are publicly-funded schools, so community outreach should be at the forefront of their mission.

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As an Indianapolis native, I have a little bias towards my home state's dental school. Serving members of my home community is a dream of mine I am consistently working towards. However, after attending Michigan for undergrad, Ann Arbor feels like a slice of home as well. After doing some research on both dental schools, I was surprised to find out how similar they are in terms of community outreach.

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Both IU and Michigan’s dental schools offer a dental student and graduate student-run clinic on campus. The majority of the work is done by dental students under the supervision of experienced faculty members. These clinics are open to anyone and accept a wide variety of insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid. Because these clinics are run by students, the treatment costs are generally substantially lower than at a private practice making them great options for people on a tight budget or without great coverage. Both clinics advertise short appointment wait times and a wide range of services. As a bonus, IU offers an interpreter for patients whose first language is not English, further decreasing the barrier to treatment.

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Aside from the on-site low-cost dental clinics, IU and Michigan offer clinics elsewhere in their respective states. For example, IU has a monthly clinic in rural northern Indiana dedicated to treating the Amish community. Dental students can volunteer to travel to these clinics and provide free dental services to Amish children. Michigan’s auxiliary dental clinics are focused in underserved areas such as Flint and downtown Detroit. Third and fourth-year dental students travel to these clinics in addition to their required clinical rotations to provide necessary treatment to patients who would otherwise go untreated.

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Both schools seem to place a heavy emphasis on pediatric dentistry. This is a great sign. Although adults probably have worse dental problems, treating children early on is necessary for future oral and systemic health. IU teams up with Indiana elementary schools to provide fluoride treatments to prevent future cavities. Michigan offers a summer program in the upper peninsula that specializes in treating special needs children, the hardest population to treat. 

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Michigan and IU both stress the importance of treating underserved patients in their communities. However, there isn’t much detail given other than a broad overview on their websites. From my perspective, a potential future student,  it seems as though these programs might not be as robust as the schools make them out to be. There are no student anecdotes or patient stories to accompany the synopses. 

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From the perspective of a possible patient at any one of these clinics, Michigan and IU offer little detail on clinic dates, hours, or locations. This could prevent someone from receiving the care they need. It is possible this information is found elsewhere, but I would argue a centralized location with all the clinics’ information would be more beneficial. Both schools need to add more information and transparency, for they may be missing patients that need it the most.

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