Really Can't Afford It and Fear..

[Gambit]

Hey. I'm 23 and still live with my siblings at the moment. Work at a job that pays about 7.23 an hour. I take home almost none, or very little money for myself. I stopped going to the dentist when I was about 15, I think. It was a deep-clean and the dentist went under gums ( which was strikingly painful, ARGH just thinking about it. ) When I stopped going, one of my teeth started cracking and browning. Went through pain for about a year and then got it taken care of by them extracting it. The dentist was pretty rough and strict on cleaning my teeth, which I didn't do much being a teenager and stuff. When I was about 20, I had two removed from the right back ( one uptop and one on the bottom ). Then at 21, I had my forth removed from the side by the bottom I had when I was 20. Now, I do need to go to the dentist, but I don't know if I can afford it. I need a filling on my side, because it has a small hole. Not much pain though, but I need to go to the dentist. It's been on my mind a lot, but the cost is high. Last time I called, they said that the filling would take 150 bucks without insurance and with insurance I think about 90.


I brush daily and floss. Didn't take care of my teeth that much last year, because I've been working a lot. Also, I'm afraid of what he might say again about my teeth like he did last time. Sucks that I don't have the money to get work done and cleanings. Anything that'll help me through this?

 

[drummerswife]

Hi Gambit,
Payinf for dental care can be tough. I'm not sure where you live. but it sounds like you might live in the US. I'm a social worker by profession and where I live we have certain dental clinics subsized by the state to help people like you who need dental care but do not have the insurance to pay for it. Most of these dental clinics operate on a sliding scale which means that their fees are based on your income. The lower your income, the less you pay and, in some cases, you pay nothing.

Another option for you to consider depending on how comfortable you are with dentistry is to possibly go to one pf the dental colleges in your area. We have a really good one here and this is where a friend of mine went before she had insurance. She tells me the work is done by senior dental students and is carefully supervised by their instructors who are fully licensed dentists.
She said their services are much cheaper than a regular dentist,
Hope this helps a little