Do you reccommend attending a community college then tranfering to a university to get your specific dental training? or start off at that university?

You are going to need a baccalaureate degree to enter an accredited dental school in the U.S. It is true that a degree from some universities are bound to look better to the admissions committee of a dental school than others. I have no idea if Dr. Chen's statement about core courses at a community college being given less respect than from a senior college is true. I do know that if you transfer to a good college after you get your associate's degree, the baccalaureate degree will bear the name of the senior college from which you graduated.
Of course, there is no reason why you should not try to get into a good senior college and apply for financial aid. Even the top universities claim to be "needs blind". In the dark ages, when I was looking at colleges, good schools weren't even on my radar because I assumed I could never afford them. Don't assume. There's nothing wrong with community college, but there's a lot of financial aid out there--explore all your options!

For acceptance to a Dental School, yes, University level courses are what you need to be taking. If you were going into a Dental Hygiene Program, even at a Dental School, Junior/Community College transfer credits would be fine. But Dental Schools are looking to see University level course work completed with very high GPA's, a very good score on the DAT exam, and community involvement.

Also, Dr. Bornfeld is correct, there is always Financial Aid available!! While you do have to pay it back, it is doable! The US Armed Services are always on the look-out for Dentists, as is the US Public Health Service Commission Corps. The USPHS is a non-military, uniformed branch of the Federal Government. They work in areas of the underserved, such as American Indian and Alaskan Native communities . If you want to serve your country, but don't want to go into the military, they are an ideal service to join! They, as well as the Military, offer scholarships and tuition reimbursement. While they don't offer as much pay as being a dentist in the public sector, they make up for it in work and life experience that you won't get elsewhere!

Good luck to you!!!

No I do not recommend taking science core classes, especially prerequisite courses at community collage. Many dental admissions consider community college courses are easier to get higher score than from a 4 year University. Consider this, all being equal, if you are competing for admission with another student who took all the courses from...say Harvard, vs you taking from community college, even if your GPA is the same, they will consider that student's high grade as significantly harder to get than yours.

Community collage courses, if credit can be transferred to 4 year university can be a GPA booster, just not prerequisite courses .