seeking dental work

RoyceSraphim · January 2015

My phone is freaking out and I really want to get this up because I'm a tad lost.

I have two molars in the back that have worn jagged a bit, one had a chunk break off. I start second job soon and once paid income will balance with bills bills.

IN Addition to Obama care, I want this to preserve my life for long tine and name it have a good quality.

Not sure how to research, no internet at home, laptops broke, phone freaky at cafe wifi.

How do I start research process for getting basic dental cleanings and xrays as well as the complicated things i know i will need later this year?

Fireflash · January 2015

The most simple way for you right now I think would be to ask around your social network for a good dentist. Also figure out what kind of coverage your insurance plan has for dental care if any. After that your first step would be to go for a cleanup + examination (which should include x-rays to see the current state of your teeth.) The dentist should then be able to tell you all the work your mouth needs and an estimate of how it would cost.

RoyceSraphim · January 2015

Great, how get insurance? ?

bowen · January 2015

Through your employer?

Dental work is often a crap shoot either way. Often times I've found it cheaper to not get insurance through work and just ask for payment plans on work I need done and pay the $80 every 6 months for a cleaning.

wrong_button · January 2015

If you're already participating in insurance through the ACA/Obamacare federal marketplace, you can also elect to buy a dental plan - but you have to do it when you sign up for your health insurance. Which is great for the future, but sounds like you want help now. So file away that little tidbit for next fall when open enrollment begins again. I'm unsure about the state marketplaces if you live in a state that has their own. You might have to call your state administrator's office and ask if you can enroll outside of open enrollment.

Based on what you posted, I'm going to assume cash isn't as free flowing as you'd like, so if I'm wrong, forgive the assumption. That said:

In the meantime, assuming your phone won't completely wig out, start doing a search for dental clinics in your area that work on a sliding scale. Basically, the fees adjust with your income. On a scale. That slides. You get it.

Conversely, save your phone battery to make some calls and borrow that cafe's phone book (yes, the paper one. People still use those, I promise) and look up dental care in the white or yellowpages. Some may directly list sliding scale or low-income options, or with financing options (which is less scary than it sounds). Call them. Call a few. Talk to them and explain what's up. It think you'll find someone willing to work with you both in terms of your current and future needs, as well as the financial part of it.

HadjiQuest · January 2015

If you have any colleges near you, including 2-year schools, sometimes they have dental programs and clinics where they will charge low rates.

I recently had a major break (on one of my front teeth, even

), and I was surprised by how inexpensive insurance is, although many plans may make you wait six months or more before they'll help pay off certain procedures like crowns. I saw many plans that were $200 a year, and I also saw a few weird voucher things under the $100 mark that aren't technically insurance but provide you with a discount on out-of-pocket fees at participating dentists. You might also want to reach out to some local dental offices for advice about insurance plans; the office that did corrective work on my tooth had their own insurance alternative where if you give them a yearly fee you get big discounts on procedures within their small chain.

Siska · January 2015

Yeah, dental schools is a good choice if you want cheap dental work done. Costs half as much or less. Might be a bit of a luck of the draw to get them to accept you as a regular patient though for stuff like cleaning and fixing minor cavities. But they usually have emergency walk-in hours for the public, if you are in agony or need a tooth extracted yesterday.

RoyceSraphim · January 2015

So glad i wrote this, mind blowing sinus headache focused on teeth make them present on my mind.

Lots of work tomorrow.

Julius · January 2015

I third dental schools, they should have room for you if you really need some work done.

Veevee · January 2015

HadjiQuest wrote: »

If you have any colleges near you, including 2-year schools, sometimes they have dental programs and clinics where they will charge low rates.

I recently had a major break (on one of my front teeth, even ), and I was surprised by how inexpensive insurance is, although many plans may make you wait six months or more before they'll help pay off certain procedures like crowns. I saw many plans that were $200 a year, and I also saw a few weird voucher things under the $100 mark that aren't technically insurance but provide you with a discount on out-of-pocket fees at participating dentists. You might also want to reach out to some local dental offices for advice about insurance plans; the office that did corrective work on my tooth had their own insurance alternative where if you give them a yearly fee you get big discounts on procedures within their small chain.

As someone who has had lots of dental work in the past and spent a lot of time looking into this, those cheapo "insurances" aren't actually insurance. You are basically paying for the 6 month cleaning ahead of time and you'll be lucky to get any other use out of them. For something like a tooth extraction and/or root canal plus crown those cheapo insurances will generally just laugh and never provide any kind of financial help.

OP, if you go the "do procedure and set up payment plan with dentist" option that bowen brought up (honestly, probably the best option without insurance), be careful about the terms you are given. I had a procedure paid for in this manner once, and the terms were that the payment had to be made on a specific day and any payment before the day was counted just as an extra payment and didn't apply to the scheduled payment. The payment also moved days as it was 30 days after the last payment so I could pay 2/15, then the next payment is due 3/17, and the 3rd 4/16. Oh, and there was a fee for paying off the loan early. Needless to say, this was not easy to keep straight but I was in a lot of pain at the time and needed shit done so it didn't leave me with a lot of options. I believe laws have been passed since to help stop this kind of lending/paying BS, but it's something to be on the look out for.

Also, any insurance you do find will probably force you to pay for at least half the procedure as your co-pay, and dentists tend to require the money upfront, so if you do find a way to get dental insurance just know it won't solve anything if you still can't pay for at least some of the procedure's costs, which brings us back to Bowen's payment suggestion...

If in the end you just want the teeth yanked, places like affordable dentures will do them super cheap ($80-$120 depending on difficulty of the pull) but be warned, it's literally dental pliers pulling out the tooth for their cheapest option (with anesthesia of some kind, of course. They're not monsters, just dentists).

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

seeking dental work

Posts