• Dental Phobia Support

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Somebody help me please

  • Thread starter Sickandfeeling hopeless
  • Start date
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Sickandfeeling hopeless

Junior member
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
12
Location
Ohio usa
I am in the usa in ohio. I have extreme dental phobia. I cant even listen to talk about teeth or watch it on tv or i feel like I'll pass out or throw up. Im afraid of everything and i have agoraphobia. I have medicaid insurance and i have been trying to find a dentist or oral surgeon for 7 years and no one will help me. I also have medical problems and im 62 years old. My gums are all infected. Im terrified. The hospital near me refuse to treat medicaid people. I don't know what to do or where to go for help. Please im panicky and crying. Someone help me!
 
I'm so sorry to hear that. So many here are, or have been, in the same position, and I'm sure you'll get some good advice soon. You're not alone.

I couldn't talk about teeth either, and would always change the channel if toothpaste commercials came on TV. Now I can actually say out loud "I've just been to the dentist today." You can read my story on the Support forum if you want.

In the meantime, have a look at the "Common Fears" and "What Can Help" sections. Those helped me to take the first step. @Dr. Daniel also has some good videos that could maybe help.

I'm not in the USA, but hopefully someone who is can help you with finding a dentist that can treat you.
 
Hello fellow Ohio person. Greetings for either Browns or Bengals.

The good news: we have many of the finest dentists in the whole world.

The better news: help is available.

I don’t know much about Medicaid, but if you help yourself, you can get better.

Were I you, I’d do the following:

1. Call 211 and tell them what you told us. Ask for both dental care and counseling (anxiety).

2. There are dental schools within fairly easy driving distance of anywhere in our state.

3. Remote access medical.

I see they’re in Ashtabula next week. Even if you’re on the opposite side of the state, a four hour drive may well be worth your time.

Good luck.
 
its because very few dentists take medicaid that i have been looking for7 years while my mouth is now so bad. all the reviews ive read about the one who do take medicaid have made my dental phobia even worse. plus my medical problems. why are dentists so bad? everyday you hear about people dying in the dental chairs because the dentist should have never graduated from dental school. there is a reason people have dental phobia and its real. how do i find an honest, compassionate dentist who cares about me and not how much money he can make by doing crap work or unecessary work.
 
and i asked a friend in ashtabula if this would be a good idea for me and she said it was only for people in ashtabula county. i lose again.
 
Hello,

Just want to share part of my story because it shows there are wonderful caring competantdentist that take medicaid. when I was 30. (about 20 years ago). I had totally awful dental experiences and my teeth on the bottom were basically rotting and I never smiled much because I was so embarrassed.. I knew I had to do something, I was on medicaid and yeah, not many people took it .. and alot were not good and some were.. well. I found a gal who was fresh out of school it was her first practice she just started and was building up her patient so she took medicaid . Anyways.. She took me on and I used to walk in covering my mouth, and hiding , shirking back from her every time and she was so kind and tell me I had a beautiful smile and shouldn't cover it and she would help me with that. We started small with cleaning then a root canal. then she did give me some options I could either get a partial denture on bottom and it be covered . or pay for a bridge. Well I didn't have money but she convinced me how this partial would give me my smile back and I'd feel better about myself.. It was work and not easy, but It really did make me feel a ton better. I felt more confident in myself and my smile and really liked her alot .. She was a lovely person.. Unfortunately I couldn't go to her for long. but she was a medicaid dentist and she changed my life.. I know they are out there. I also know that many dental associations are fighting for medicaid to pay more so they can treat more and take more patient load. So maybe one day in the near future things will look a little brighter with that.. but there is still hope you may find someone that takes this that will be very kind and competant to help.

  • xessPointe, Akron
  • Care Alliance Health Center, Cleveland
  • Children’s Oral Health Network, Cincinnati
  • Dental Center of Northwest Ohio, Toledo
  • Good Samaritan Free Health Center, Cincinnati
  • KidSMILES, Columbus
  • Miami County Dental Clinic, Troy
  • Ohio Hills Health Services, Barnesville
  • OPEN M, Akron
  • Viola Startzman Clinic, Wooster
These are locations that had high access to dental records in Ohio so may either take medicaid, do free or reduced or sliding fee scale dental.

I hope this helps.
 
The Cleveland one is about 25 minutes from me. I will try calling them. Thank you.
 
over the last few days i have called, emailed, searched and begged and again no medicaid dentist would see me. none of them returned my calls or answered emails. i have read reviews on some of these dentists and i went into a panic reading how bad they were and the terrifing stories. i even emailed dental schools and went on the american dental association site. nothng.......the horrible truth im learning is if you have a disability and need medicaid as far as dental care goes in ohio you are out of luck. unless your really brave, which im not, you can go to the dental chain that takes medicaid and hope and pray they dont kill you or mess up your mouth so bad you will wish you were dead. i dont know where else to search. im exhausted and my anxiety and dental phobia is threw the roof.
im so disgusted with dentists. i have been on web sites and watched you tube videos on how easy it is to be a dentist and how one of the first things dentists learn is how to scam insurance companies and people and start making your first million by the time you have been practiceing for 5 years. seriously!!!!!! ever see a poor or middle class dentist???? never!
but they wont see medicaid people because they say they will lose money. are they kidding???? i read an article on line that helping medicaid people doesnt hurt a dentist at all. what they lose is pocket change to them. of course seeing me or another medicaid person may mean they might have to wait a day or so for that new car or house. but its no hardship. the crime is people like me are left to suffer and die because of greed and that dentists dont care. they dont have to take the same oath that medical doctors do in fact dentists answer to no one. and even if they kill someone they never lose their liscence or get in trouble because its impossible to even sue them. i talked to a women at the ohio dental board and she said in the 20 years shes worked there not once has a dentist lost his license even when he or she did something really bad. i thought that was scary. so where does that leave me???? i talked to a woman whos husband was so sick with his teeth they had to take out a second mortage on there house to get a dentist to help him. now hes working 2 jobs and her one to try and keep there house! this is crazy. i dont know where to go from here. the tv stations, the newspaper, my sentator? im so frustrated and scared. i needed to rant and vent. this is wrong and i hope these dentists who have been so cruel to me sleep well tonight because i believe in karma and one day there greed will catch up with them and they will suffer 10 fold. but right now they are laughing at me all the way to the bank. and dentist make fun of people with dental phobia, of course we are afraid because bad greedy dentists made us that way.
but for now i have no choice but to keep humiliating myself and keep calling and begging until i have another heart attack, caused by no dentist taking medicaid my doctor says, and hope i dont get sepsis or my heart gives out and i die.
this is so wrong.
 
I'm not sure where you are located in Ohio, so my apologies in advance if this isn't useful. I did a quick google search and found that the ohio state University offers dental treatments and also lists medicaid as one of the payment options. Perhaps you can give them a try if you haven't already. There is a number to call to schedule a normal screening and for emergency.

I also came across Medworks in my searches and saw that they provide free dental and medical services. Have you tried them? You can check out their free clinics and see if you can schedule an appointment or a walk-in is available.

I know it's daunting to think of all the work you need done. But perhaps take one step at a time? Just aim to get yourself seen first, so you can get a gist of what work you need, and then prioritise and maybe space out the treatments you need depending on which one is more urgent.
 
Just wanted to add something since there was mention of RAM (Remote Area Medical). I volunteered with this group a couple years ago when they came to my city. My role was helping get people checked into the clinic. We only asked for general information. No ID was required, we gathered no insurance information and there were no restrictions.

I'm sorry your friend told you only people from that county could participate. RAM events are open to anyone that shows up. For this reason they can get busy so they recommend showing up early. It looks like they will be in OH again in September or maybe one of the other events is close enough for you to go to.

https://www.ramusa.org/clinic-schedule/

Something else to consider since you are a senior. Eldercare Locator is a service provided by the US Admin. on Aging. The site is designed to connect seniors with local resources (health, housing, care giving, SNAP, etc.). If you search by zip code it will show the local offices near by.

https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/index.aspx

Wishing you the best with finding care.
 
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