I am barely getting by at the moment and now I think I have a cavity. Are there tips for affording dental care during this economy? I’m not sure I can afford this cavity.
Ben
Dear Ben,
It certainly is one of the worst economies we’ve had since the Great Depression. Everyone is feeling the pinch. Without exaggeration, the best way for you to save money is to get this cavity dealt with sooner rather than later. I’ll give you some ideas on how to save money with that in a moment. First, I’m going to explain why it is so important.
The big takeaway is that this is the cheapest your treatment will be. The longer you wait to deal with it, the more expensive it gets. A small cavity is more affordable than a large one. A large cavity costs less than a dental crown, which is what you will need once the decay reaches about 30% of your tooth. A crown is cheaper than needing a root canal treatment, which also requires a crown. A root canal is cheaper than an extraction and tooth replacement by thousands of dollars.
What could only be a couple of hundred dollars could turn into $4,000 or more. So you’ll want to go in as soon as possible.
Getting Affordable Dental Care
There are a couple of things you can do in addition to preventative and timely care. First, you can see if there is a dental school in your area. They will do discounted work because they are training up new dentists. There is a trade-off with this. First, the students, though supervised, are not as experienced. This means they will be learning while they do your dental work. Second, because they are learning. It will take much longer than if you went to the dentist. If you’re paid by the hour and don’t get time off for things such as medical or dental, this may end up costing you more money.
A second option is to do an internet search using the term “affordable dentist“. Generally, these are dentists who strive to not only keep their prices reasonable, but they often will offer some type of payment plan. Some dentists will have in-office payment plans. Others will choose instead to work with an outside finance company, such as Care Credit. Care Credit is a medical credit card of sorts. They offer very flexible payment plans with both low and (in some cases) no interest.
As I mentioned earlier, it is in your financial benefit to get this taken care of right away. It’s also in your physical benefit. You don’t want it to turn into a dental emergency.
This blog is brought to you by Decatur, Al Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.