Financial assistance - need advice! (Long post)

[Antero]

Hello. I don't necessarily have a fear towards dental work but, this seemed like the most active forum so I figured I'd ask. Hope you all don't mind.

I've been having dental issues as far back as I can remember. Having had 4 root canals during my elementary and middle school years and of course the occasional filling work, I guess I'm not much of a stranger to dentists. Skip forward many years later, 3 of the 4 caps came out, were glued (not sure the term) back in, came out again and eventually I just kept them out. Two of my teeth had cracked (only thing present was that they were thin where it cracked) and that was around 5 years ago. One tooth on the top left and one on the bottom right.. The holes are pretty big and the core of my teeth have been exposed for pretty much this entire time. I went for a quote to fix all my teeth and was quoted over $11,000. I don't want to get root canals because of my bad experience with them coming out and would prefer to get implants but of course the costs for those are way too high. The funny thing about all this is that I'm the only one in my family with problems.

Without trying to make this any longer than it is, what I'd like to know is if there are any kind of dental programs out there that assist low income guys such as myself? I don't want to get myself into any kind of debt since I've never been there but I just can't see myself affording the work needed to get my teeth back to normal. What are some of my options? I look forward to reading your replies. Thanks!

 

[carole]

Hi Antero to the forum I cannot help with advise about your financial situation, but if you do feel worried or stressed about any treatment you may need then we can help with support.

This is a forum for people that are dentally phobic, and financial advice cannot be given. Sorry I hope you find an answer to your problem but this isn't the right place really.

We don't mind at all you dropping in, sorry we can't help.

I wish you good luck

 

[coolin]

The only thing I know of to suggest is to look for your nearest dental school. You can have work done by senior dental students, supervised by experienced dentists at a much lower cost than normal.
Good luck

 

[Antero]

Thank you guys. That actually sounds like a great idea. I never heard about that. I'll be sure to check that out.

 

[Steve In Cleveland]

My only advice to add would be to "give root canals a chance" . I'm sorry you've had bad experiences in the past, but currently root canals are usually done with an extremely high level of success. In almost all cases, root canal therapy can be completed in about an hour or sometimes two visits, each about an hour, and is painless. I've had I think 10 root canals now, and can tell you they're pretty easy.

I'm not sure of the success rate for implants, but as you mentioned they're pretty expensive, and I think most dentists would agree that if you can save the original tooth, that's preferable.

I'm not sure what's put you off of root canal treatment but if it's part of your treatment plan, I'd urge you to consider it, because it's really pretty standard.

Good luck on finding payment options. I agree that a dental school would be a great place to start.

 

[iDent]

1.) If you live in an urban area of the United States, another option in addition to a dental school may be a "sliding-scale" community dental clinic. Usually, these are affiliated with community medical clinics who treat people who are often (but not always) uninsured or underinsured. To qualify for services, you would probably need to give the clinic office copies of your 2011 tax returns or last several paychecks, and they would base your charges on your income.

2.) If you live in a smaller town or rural area of the United States that is not near a dental school or does not have a "sliding-scale" dental clinic, call your county's public health office. They may know of private dentists in your region who are willing to work for reduced rates.

3.) If receiving discounts would help place dental care within your budget, a dental discount plan might help.