How to treat teeth in America if you do not have insurance and money

What could be more debilitating and scary than a toothache? Only payment of medical bills. There are ways to get dental care cheap or even free, with or without insurance. Lifehacker.

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Most health insurance plans in the US do not cover two very important things: dental and vision services.

Anyone who has ever needed extensive dental care knows that even with dental insurance, your out-of-pocket costs are astronomical. In fact, many people don't even consider dental insurance to be real insurance because most people will pay more premiums than they'll ever get back in service coverage.

And while Medicaid may cover dental care, its dental coverage varies by state and decreases significantly after the insured reaches the age of 21. Moreover, only about 40% of dentists accept Medicaid.

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At the same time, oral health is vital for the condition of your entire body. There are several ways to get dental care for free or for reasonable money.

Dental schools

No matter where you live, somewhere in your state there is a dental department filled with students who need to perform examinations and procedures on real patients. This may involve travel, but the upside is that you can often get services like cleanings, root canals, or fillings for less than half the price you would pay at a dental practitioner's office.

The downside is that service will be slow: every step of the procedure performed by the student must be supervised and verified by a licensed dentist. You can find dental schools in your state on the website. Dental Accreditation Commissions.

Dental Clinics

There are free or low-cost public dental clinics in virtually every area of ​​the country that use a sliding scale pricing based on income and insurance coverage. You can find them by searching the site freedental.org.

Many non-profit organizations also set up temporary dental clinics at fairs and other public events, and American Foundation for Dental Care tracks these events and writes about them on its website, so you can find out if there are dental clinics in your area in the coming months. United way also maintains a directory of emergency and low-cost dental services.

If you have a disability or are over 65 and cannot afford dental services, you can contact Dental Lifeline Network. It employs volunteer dentists who are willing to work for free to help the most vulnerable in society.

In addition, there are hundreds of federally funded public health centers throughout the country that provide low-cost oral care. You can find a list of those in your area at website Health Resources and Services Administration.

Your dentist

Although it's an uncomfortable conversation, sometimes just being honest with your dentist about your finances is the best way to deal with this situation. If you have insurance and are getting regular checkups and cleanings but now have a procedure that will cost you thousands of dollars, ask your dentist if they have any kind of step payment plan, or if they may be providing a certain amount of "free services".

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They may not be able or willing to help you, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Clinical trials

It's a long way to go, but if your oral care needs go beyond the most common procedures, you can find the right clinical trial for you. Clinical trials often offer free basic medical care as part of the trial, and if you have a specific medical condition, this can be a way to get advanced treatment without spending a dime. State website ClinicalTrials.gov is a good place to start looking for such tests, and WCG CenterWatch contains a list of active dental studies.

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