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School of Dentistry
Important Notices Construction and closures may impact your visit.

First-Time Patients

Dentist talking to young patient and gesturing toward her mouth.

First-time patients may enter the school's treatment programs through several avenues, For example, new patients may be treated in our emergency clinic and then be internally referred to one of our specialty clinics. New patients may also be scheduled for a treatment planning appointment at which they may be referred to a specialty clinic, if indicated in the treatment plan.

Patients of record who have not been to our clinics for more than 18 months should also follow the first-time patient guidelines below.

First Appointment

A patient’s initial appointment will be scheduled in our Treatment Planning Clinic. During this appointment, a student (supervised by our faculty) will evaluate all aspects of your dental and oral health to offer you various treatment options. Please allow 3-4 hours for this appointment. Please call (205) 934-2700 to schedule your first appointment.

 

  • First-time patients, please bring the following:

    • Photo ID
    • Insurance cards
    • Form of payment
      We accept cash, check, or credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover). At this time, we cannot accept American Express or Care Credit.
    • Parking fees
      Parking in and around the School of Dentistry requires payment. Please bring ample amounts of change (coins) and/or a credit card for the machine. For more information, see our parking options.
    • Someone to watch your child/children
      Both patients and their providers must focus solely on the services being provided to assure the best quality of care. For patient and visitor safety, the school does not allow children (under the age of 14) to remain unsupervised in waiting rooms and children are not allowed in the clinical treatment areas under any circumstance unless they are receiving treatment. If you have a child(ren) with you who is not the patient, please be sure to bring another adult who can watch your child(ren) in the waiting room while you are being treated. For safety reasons, we are not allowed to watch children who are left unattended. If children are left unattended, the patient’s dental appointment will be cancelled and rescheduled.

  • Please be aware that if you choose to be a patient at the School of Dentistry, you will be treated in a teaching environment. This means treatment will take longer than it would in a private practice setting. Here are a few things to prepare for as you seek patient care in UAB Dentistry clinics:

    • Allow time for parking. Because we are part of a large medical center you may need extra time to find parking close to our building, which is located on 7th Avenue South between 19th and 20th Streets. Visit our Directions & Parking page for locations, hours, cost, and details. We cannot validate parking.
    • Arrive at your clinic 30 minutes early. You will begin your first appointment by completing our patient registration forms. We ask that you arrive to the clinic 30 minutes before your appointment time to complete the registration process.
    • Don’t forget to bring… Photo ID, insurance cards, payment, and coins/credit card for parking. Be prepared to provide accurate demographic, health and billing information.
    • Take along another adult to supervise your minor child(ren). For patient and visitor safety, the school does not allow children under the age of 14 to remain unsupervised in waiting rooms and children are not allowed in treatment areas under any circumstance unless they are receiving treatment. If you have a child with you who is not the patient, please be sure to bring another adult who can watch your child while you are in being treated. For safety reasons, we are not allowed to watch children who are left unattended.
    • In pain? Emergency patients can visit our Urgent/Limited (emergency) Care Clinic. If you have an urgent dental need and/or want one specific concern addressed, you should visit our Urgent/Limited Care (emergency) Clinic. This is a walk-in clinic where patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
    • Treatment for comprehensive care patients. General dentistry patients (excluding urgent/emergency-care patients, Dental Faculty Practice patients, and patients referred to our specialty clinics) will be seen in our Comprehensive Care Clinic.

Subsequent Appointments

After you complete your treatment planning appointment, you will be assigned to a student who will provide care within one of our general dentistry group practices in our Comprehensive Care Clinic. The faculty within that group practice will oversee your treatment plan and care.

If you miss or arrive late for an appointment, the student doctor cannot make up that time. If you must cancel your appointment, we ask that you do so at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled time so that another patient may be scheduled.

To schedule or change an appointment, please visit the appropriate clinic page.