Paying for dental work...?

I have to have 2 root canals. Each one will cost $1000 and another $750 for each crown. What do you do if you have no dental insurance and cannot afford this?

Paying for dental work...?
Yank 'em bout $150 total....
Reply:Honestly?


Suffer.





This is one of the most unspoken about issues in relation to class difference. i live in lower-middle class and i have to resort to home dentistry (oraljel, ibuprofen, pliers, etc.)





Or you could have it done and let the charges go to collections (which i wouldn't recommend, but they can't come and take your dental work out of your mouth).





You can try looking up state help for dental work, but it's usually still pretty steep. About $40 just for an extraction (for poor people, that's a lot of money), which may be what you have to resort to instead of keeping your teeth.





i'm sorry... i truly empathize.
Reply:Try looking into discount dental plans. Some good ones are AVIA, GE Signature Dental, Carington, etc. Your dentist might do financing with a third party like Capital One or something. The rates are usually good b/c the provider pays a 7.5% administrative fee. Hope that helps.
Reply:Look up these websites and see if there are any plans that you can "get on" to help with this cost.





www.dentalplans.com





www.deltadental.com
Reply:Some dental offices have offer paperwork to apply for loans to pay dental expenses. I suggest searching for an office that provides such a service. You will have to qualify of course, but it is an option worth exploring.
Reply:Some health clinics charge a sliding fee scale.


If you can wait and sign up for insurance that could be better.


I am voting for whoever wants to install a Universal Health Care Plan in this country. Things are getting out of hand these days!
Reply:CAN YOU HAVE FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS HELP? CAN YOU GET A BANK LOAN? CAN YOU PLACE THE CHARGES ON A CREDIT CARD?


IF MONEY IS THE LAST UN-CONQUERABLE OBSTACLE, CONSIDER EXTRACTION IF EVERY OTHER OPTION FAILS.


YOU CAN ALSO PLEAD YOUR SITUATION WITH THE DENTIST AND SEE IF HE WILL MAKE FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
Reply:I am a dentist. When one of my patients is in a situation like you are in, I usually give him/her two options:





1. do the root canals, and have large fillings for now, instead of crowns. Fillings are not as good as crowns for root canalled teeth, and it is a bit of a risk, as the tooth could break since a root canal hollows out the tooth, but they usually last for quite a few years like this. Your dentist may allow you to pay what they can every month until things are paid off if he knows you can't afford to pay it all at once but you are committed to paying it off over a few months (ie. give post-dated checks).





2. Have the teeth pulled.





Good luck ;)
Reply:I'm a dentist.





First off, I find it quite odd that your doctor charges $250 less for crowns than root canals. Usually, they are virtually the same in price.





Anyway, it really depends on your situation and the conditions that led the doctor to determine that you need root canals.





If you are in pain from both of these teeth, you can always have a procedure called a "pulpectomy" performed, where the pulp is removed and the access to the pulp chamber is covered with a temporary filling material. This procedure, because it is the first step of a root canal, usually resolves the symptoms, but is not in any way a "final" procedure. It only allows you to put off the root canal for a few months (sometimes it doesn't!). Ultimately, you will need a root canal on any pulpectomized tooth. Keep in mind, though, that a pulpectomized tooth is in most ways like a root canal'ed tooth in that they become brittle and can break. Moreover, with the root canal remaining to be performed, you are thus further away from having the tooth properly crowned and protected from fracture. Finally, pulpectomies are not exactly dirt cheap. We generally charge around $200 for them per tooth, and when it's the patient's choice to have this performed in order to delay the root canal rather than our own choice, we typically add this charge to the cost of a root canal. Going this route, you will ultimately pay more. It does, however, allow you to delay the expense.





As for the crowns, you can delay those as long as you want as long as you acknowledge the fact that your root canal'ed teeth are at risk of fracturing and that the doctor is not responsible for reimbursing you for the cost of the root canals. You may end up breaking the tooth and end up having wasted a lot of money on a root canal.





Your other alternative is to have the teeth extracted. But make no mistake about it, teeth that need root canals ultimately must have them. And teeth that have root canals ultimately must have crowns, otherwise you risk wasting money and getting infections. Otherwise, just ask to have the teeth extracted.
Reply:See if your dentist takes Care Credit. It's like a credit card, but for medical expenses. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the application %26amp; to see if you're approved.





http://www.carecredit.com/
Reply:Dental work is expensive, but keep in mind that maintaining your natural teeth is the best of all options available. Like Dr. Albert stated, most patients rely on family, bank loans, credit cards or the dentist. If you've been a patient with this dentist for awhile he will be more apt to setting up a payment plan. It may require you placing a substantial down payment first and extending the remaining balance over the period of several months. The dentist would be the one for you to broach this topic with as the front desk has "set" rules, you would stand a better chance with him since it's hard to say "no" to a patient who wants to save their teeth. If this opportunity is given, you can do the root canals and have build ups placed allowing you time to pay this off before venturing into the crowns. You will have to be very careful with these root canalled teeth to keep them from fracturing, but it can be done for months as long as you are cautious. Also, make sure to live up to your end of the bargain with the payments so they will continue this type credit by allowing you to do payments with the crown work too. We do this quite often with established patients and those who we feel are sincere. Although some of the time, the patient fails to live up to their end of the bargain by failing to do both, continue treatment and maintain payments, causing the loss of the teeth and a good dentist. We lose as well, the money owed for work that is completed, as well as a patient we gave our trust too. I could discuss this further, but won't. I hope you can work this out with your dentist and have all of your procedures done in a timely manner. Good luck!
Reply:Just bite the dust and swallow it!
Reply:Just roll with it. Its not life threatening