The Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC): what it shows, and what you still work out yourself
We ran a report through the AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC) and compared it line by line with our own engine. The monthly payments matched to the dollar. Three things the report did not answer are the ones that change decisions.
If you are a dental student with federal loans, the tool your school most likely points you to is the Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC). It comes from a partnership between the AAMC and ADEA, it is free to enrolled dental students and graduates, and it imports your loan data from StudentAid.gov so you can see every loan in one place.
It is a good tool, and it has been updated for the 2026 rules: a report we generated on September 30, 2026 models RAP, IBR and PAYE, Standard and Tiered-Standard repayment, with PSLF columns alongside them.
Our numbers and the Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator agree
We compared DLOC's output with our own engine on identical inputs — a single borrower, $190,000 salary, two dependents, five federal loans.
| DLOC | Path to Dentist | |
|---|---|---|
| RAP monthly payment | $1,483 | $1,483 |
| IBR monthly payment | $1,305 | $1,313 |
RAP matches exactly. The $8 difference on IBR comes from which year's poverty guideline each tool uses. Both are applying the same statutory formula, which is what you would hope: the arithmetic of a repayment plan is not where tools differ.
Three things the report left to the reader
Where tools differ is in what they do with the numbers afterwards. Reading that report as a student, three questions were left open.
The tax on forgiveness. The report showed $343,293 forgiven under IBR and said nothing further about it. Forgiveness under RAP or IBR counts as taxable income in the year it happens. At a combined 32% federal and 5% state rate, that is well over $100,000 owed to the IRS in a single year — a bill you have twenty years to save for, if you know it is coming.
What share of your income each plan takes. The report put RAP's total repayment at $810,348 against Standard's $429,657. Read alone, that makes RAP look like a bad deal. It leaves out that Standard costs $3,609 a month from day one — around 23% of gross pay for a new associate — in exactly the years you might be buying a house or a practice. The cheapest plan over thirty years and the plan you can actually afford in year three are often not the same plan.
Anything about money you have not borrowed yet. DLOC organizes loans you already have. It is built around an import of your existing federal loans. That is the right design for a D4 — but the decision that matters most now happens earlier, in D1, when Grad PLUS is closed, federal borrowing stops at $200,000, and the rest of a $400,000 education has to come from somewhere.
DLOC, MLOC and OLOC: which calculator is which
AAMC runs three versions of the same tool: MLOC for medical students, DLOC for dental students, and OLOC for osteopathic students. If your school pointed you at MLOC, it was built around medical training and residency, which is a different debt and income path from dental school. DLOC is the dental one, and it is free to enrolled dental students and graduates.
Plan what you'll borrow and what it will costPath to Dentist is independent. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the AAMC, ADEA, any dental school, lender or government agency. Figures above come from a DLOC report we generated on September 30, 2026 for a single borrower profile; your own report may differ. Estimates only, not financial advice.