I've broken a tooth and don't have dental insurance! Help please!?

Question

Several months ago (6-7?), I started experiencing a sharp, aching pain on the lower left side of my mouth. It was so bad that a sympathy pain had started on the top of the same side. I self-treated with Orajel for a few days before going to a dentist who told me I had simple gum inflamation and prescribed antibiotics. He said the pain would go away, and it did, sort of--at least it wasn't crippling agony anymore.

So fast-forward to two days ago. I was eating lunch and felt like I had something stuck between my teeth. Upon going to the bathroom to floss it out, a chunk of my tooth fell out! I don't have dental insurance, and I've been looking for a job for the past two months. I freaked and called my mom, but she didn't have any advice. Then this afternoon, I felt another part of the tooth loosen and fall out! Now instead of only a chip gone, it's 1/3! I've been covering it with gauze until I can talk to a dentist about what I can do, but I'm very freaked out. Any advice?

As I've said, I'm both uninsured and unemployed. I can beg off a little bit of money from my parents/grandparents, but nowhere near enough for a full root canal+crown (and even asking would make me feel terrible). I live in the Chicagoland area (Illinois, US, of course), if that helps/matters.

There's not much pain--less, actually, than when the tooth was only cracked--but the whole situation scares me to death (first real issue as an "adult"), and I really really really don't want a gold crown (even though it's the more affordable option, I'm just vain enough that it really bothers me as an option).

Answer 1

Talk to your dentist. Explain your situation. I know my dentist is super cool and she would make arrangements with me to pay it off at some point. Talk to the billing people at your dentist office. Ask if you can make very small monthly payments to start, meanwhile, look for a job where you can pay more and more each month.

I wouldn't put it off though. And I wouldn't get the tooth pulled in order to deal with it later. If you need a root canal and a crown now, do it.

Or, get a 0% interest credit card, charge it on that, have your parents help with small payments to start.

Answer 2

Ask your dentist about payment plans. Many dentists are starting to offer payment plans such as "Care Credit". If you have good credit this is an excellent option. At most offices that I've worked at, the first 18 months are INTEREST FREE. Which means you would be able to get the work that you need done before the situation gets worse and have a year and a half to pay it off with no interest. Waiting can be bad; the tooth can get to the point where it is unsaveable and needs to be extracted/pulled leaving a space which can cause other teeth to drift and lessen your chewing ability. You said you have no dental insurance so it won't matter too much what office you go to. Ask your current dentist first about Care Credit or another payment plan but if they can't help you, shop around. If you find an office that can offer you a better payment option, you can have your x-rays and other info sent from your current dentist. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 3

You should have stressed the need for an appointment immediately. It may be in your best interest to call the dentist this weekend; he will at least be able to phone in some antibiotics and a pain medication. Even if the tooth has a root canal, once fractured it can become infected involving swelling and pain. Stick to the ibuprofen 600mg every 4-6 hours to help ease the pain. Advil or Motrin always works better for dental pain. Call your dentist tomorrow morning, he will be able to take care of you before your appointment next week. Sometimes the people who work as receptionist, don't know the first thing about dentistry, it amazes me at the incompetence. It's not just the patients who suffer for this.

Answer 4

Putting off dental work only makes it more expensive down the road. The cheap fix for now would be to call a dentist and ask how much an extraction costs - ask to borrow money from your family and have that done. Down the road when you are employed, you can save up for a bridge or even get a spacer in there to hold the place and keep your other teeth from shifting out of place and REALLY screwing up your bite.

But leaving the but of a tooth in there can only cause you more pain, infection, absess, agony, etc. Good luck!

Answer 5

Look in your phone book to see if you have a dental school in the area. They usually perform sevices that take longer because students are performing them while under supervision but its cheap.

Also you may have community health options in your area that work on a sliding fee schedules. They can be state wide or county specific. There are a few in Boise and some here in Oregon too.

And as a last option find an office that has "care credit" which is dental credit card almost and is usually 0% interest for 12 months. Many offices won't do payment plans unless you are a patient of record.

Answer 6

Most dentists will do work and bill you if it's an emergency. Do that and get a job to pay the bill. If you and your parents arent wealthy (by government standards) then apply for medicaid if your state has it.

Answer 7

Check with your local public health center.

You could join the military which has free health and dental care.

But then you may have to go fight
g.w bush's war.

And the republican party is against national health care.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

IF IT DOESN'T HURT SAVE UP MONEY TO GET IT FIXED. IF THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE HAVE IT EXTRACTED.