To young to lose my teeth?

Question

I am only twenty years old and i am going to lose my teeth if i cant find financial help soon. My dentist has informed me that i have 6 thousand dollars worth of work to be done and my insurence only covers about 1500 a year which means it will take me about six to get it all finished and by then there will be a lot more problem. I have always taken care of my teeth, and had braces for about three years; my teeth are just very cavity prone. I am a single mom and i go to college full time, i have no money to cover my part. Someone please help!!!!!

Answer 1

Find your local dental college, they offer dental care at greatly reduced rates.

Answer 2

Ask your dentist to prioritize your treatment. What needs immediate attention, but what may be OK fo r a year or 2. Also, consider a second opinion. You'll get a completely different opinion of how to proceed. If you are cavity prone, brushing, flossing and using fluoride, you should do a couple of other things to minimize the bacteria. Try brushing for 5 days in a row once every month with betadine (available as a liquid at most pharmacies as an antiseptic). This reduces bacterial levels. the other thing to do is to add xylitol to your diet (gum or mints). Buy gum that lists xylitol as the first ingredient (koolerz, ice breakers, xylifresh). Mints are available online. You want to have 5 to 15 grams over the course of the day. It kills bacteria between brushing.

Answer 3

Alot of dentist tell you things are worse than they are to try and get more money. I am guessing that most of the work was root canals (which are way pricey) and fillings cause you said they are cavity prone. As long as you are not in pain you can space these out. You might be able to get away with just fillings as a lot of dentist push root canals to make more money. Also look into maybe getting them done at a medical college. You may have to drive a bit but they charge very little to do what commercial dentist charge a ton for.

Answer 4

I'm not sure where you are from, but in many areas now they have dental clinics where the amount you pay is based strictly on income and they will work out a payment plan. If you live anywhere near a dental college, you are really in luck. I am quite near University of Virginia. We have a dental college there. Also, check with your local social services to see if they offer any programs that help. A Lion's Club or other community service organization may be able to help you find some answers, too.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Stop eating sweet things and things with sugar in them.

Your teeth will be less cavity-prone the older you get.

And even if you lose some of them, these days you can get implants which are just as good as the real thing. (Better, since you don't get toothache!)

Another thing you could do is go to Budapest or one of those places where you can get good dental work done much more cheaply than in the US. But the downside is that if there are subsequent problems you are on your own. So it's a risk.

Think creatively.

Answer 6

Hmm, i would get a second opinion if i were you. I doubt very much that not having this work done will mean you lose all your teeth- dentists do tend to exaggerate a lot in my experience.

Answer 7

Try those free health care places.. like CHIP or SKIP, MAP, etc.. i'm not sure what they're called in your state.
My mom & lil brother (19 yrs old) has that and dental is included.

Answer 8

The first thing I would do is find a second opinion. Seriously.

Answer 9

See if you can get on some kind of payment plan

Answer 10

find a dental school and let them help you