I've had some pretty bad experiences with "professional" dentists. From one who over charged (wanted over $10,000 to fix my mouth) to one who just wanted to pull everything, and one who thought he was 'doing a favor' by drilling my wisdom tooth then leaving it open with the nerve exposed, thusly costing me almost $600 to have it surgically removed.
Hence my trepidation with going back to a dentist. However a few months ago I ended up with a badly infected tooth that caused my jaw to swell bad enough to make it look like I was holding a tennis ball in my cheek and took 2 weeks worth of antibiotics to get rid of. I do not have dental insurance because the one that is offered through my employer covers so little, it's nothing much more than a discount club. My last dentist visit was for a check up, x-ray, and an extraction...they covered $25. So for many years I hadn't set foot in a dentist office, mostly because I couldn't afford it and because of prior bad experiences.
I have since found a really excellent dentist, and she's at a neighborhood 'free' clinic. I have not heard nice things about clinic dentists and doctors...mostly to the tune of "they don't get paid much to do that so they don't care about you." Well, in this case it's the exact opposite. These people are in the business to do what it's meant to do, help people who need it. They're not in it for the money. IMO, this is the best care one could get. Now, I put "free" in quotes because while if you have no income and no insurance it is free, however they have a sliding pay scale for people who do have income. In the past month I've only paid about $300 for 2 extractions, 2 permanent fillings, and one temporary filling. I go back in a month for one more filling. Then I need a crown and something to fill in the gaps from extractions and we're done. Much cheaper than $10,000 huh?
Sorry Big Bucks Dentist...but you can finance your new Mercedes with somebody else's mouth.
For anybody looking for free or low-cost dentistry, do a Google search for "free dental work", that's how I found mine. Look to see if you have an Aunt Martha's Healthcare Network near you www.auntmarthas.org
