Bulletin of Dental Education Article

The Creighton University School of Dentistry (Creighton SOD) is addressing a critical gap in access to urgent oral health care through the innovative Creighton SOD After-hours Clinic. The clinic, which handles dental emergencies only, operates on Tuesday and Thursday evenings offering same-day treatment for adult patients’ acute dental needs, including extractions, who might otherwise face limited or costly options.

Filling a Critical Community Need
For patients experiencing severe dental pain outside regular business hours, options are often limited to emergency rooms that provide only temporary relief, expensive emergency dental offices or long waits for care. Creighton SOD’s After-hours Clinic offers a timely and affordable alternative, frequently treating patients in under an hour at a fraction of the cost of private emergency services. 

Experiential Learning for Future Dentists
The clinic also serves as a high-impact educational experience for Creighton SOD dental students. Fourth-year students work alongside faculty and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) oral and maxillofacial surgery residents, gaining hands-on experience managing urgent cases. Creighton SOD’s emphasis on progressive clinical independence allows students to complete a high volume of extractions and complex procedures before graduation, strengthening their readiness for practice.

“The school’s values have always been centered on making an impact by caring for others. It isn’t lip service. Creighton instills in its students the value of taking care of the underserved in the community. The After-hours Clinic is an excellent example of this,” said Val Desa, D.D.S., M.D., Associate Professor, Division Chief and Residency Director, UNMC Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Dr. Desa is a graduate of the D.D.S. Class of 1992 from Creighton SOD.

Reducing Emergency Room Utilization
Beyond education and patient care, the clinic supports broader health care system goals. Non-traumatic dental visits account for significant emergency room utilization and costs, despite emergency departments being ill-equipped to provide definitive dental treatment. By diverting patients to appropriate dental care, the after-hours clinic helps reduce unnecessary ER visits while ensuring patients receive timely, effective treatment. The clinic typically serves about 10 patients per evening, with referrals increasing from local emergency departments and urgent care centers as awareness grows. Based on Creighton SOD data analysis, the after-hours clinic provided emergency care to roughly 2,300 patients from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025. According to data from the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA), the average cost of a visit to local emergency departments for non-traumatic dental needs during that period was $4,320. As a result, the after-hours clinic saved Medicaid and Nebraska taxpayers approximately $9,936,000 in dental care costs for underserved populations over two-and-a-half years.

Courtesy of Creighton University School of Dentistry