Senior dental students' impact on dental school clinic revenues: the effect of community-based dental education.

Junior and senior dental students generate a significant portion of dental school clinical revenues. Some deans and faculty members are concerned that school clinic income declines when students spend substantial time in community clinics on extramural rotations. This study uses data from eight dental schools to examine the difference in senior clinic operating revenues and expenses between schools with extensive community-based dental education programs and those with limited community-based dental education programs. The analysis shows that schools with extensive programs have substantially lower per senior student clinic losses. This is due to having fewer chairs per student and having a larger class size, thus generating more tuition revenues. The economic advantages of community-based dental education programs for their schools are substantial.