We don’t have dental insurance – and I imagine many other families go without this too – however, dental care still is a must. I’ll admit, I don’t even like having my teeth cleaned much less a cavity filled. We’ve handled the “no dental insurance” in 3 different ways on various occasions.
- Don’t go. (My favorite position, seeing I don’t like dental work anyways.)
- Go to the local technical college where the dental hygenist students work on you. We’ve been to Stark State College and I love! their set up and the atmosphere (and the price… under $10). The drawback is that because they’re learning and their work has to be reviewed (not a bad thing though) they tell you to prepare to be there for 3 hours.
- Go to clinic where they use a sliding fee scale.
Okay so, let me tell you. I had my reservations about going to a “clinic”. There’s just this “thing” about it that gives people (or is it me?) the impression that its just not going to be as good as going somewhere where I have to shell out lots of money or swipe that credit card and go into debt for a little while. Its a stigma that I’ve allowed to get in my way for a long time.
Well, it may be okay for me not to go to the dentist (at least for awhile 🙂 ) but my kids have to go.
And so we went.
And I learned a lesson. A lesson I already knew.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
In spite of the fact that the dental clinic is obviously for those who can’t afford to shell out hundreds of dollars in dental care and they share a building with other low income services and yeah, it looks like a low-income clinic…
We had a great experience! My kids got their teeth examined and cleaned without tears. They even got a few goodies at the end of the visit. There is a minimal $20 charge and then it can go up from there. Still very affordable.
And next month, its my turn.
*By the way, I am NOT opposed to low income services. In the past we have used WIC and currently, even though I don’t think you have to be low income for this, my youngest is under BCMH (Bureau for Medically Handicapped children) due to being born with a partial cleft soft-palate 😉
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There is a fourth option, which is becoming more an more popular: enrolling in a Dental Plan (MUCH less expensive than dental insurance). The plans generally have a monthly membership fee, and then there is usually a network of participating providers (most of which are also on insurance network lists), and you receive discounts on your services right up front. This is a great option for families who want to be able to maintain their routine preventative dental care, but can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month. Often, even with insurance, you can end up maxing out your allowed insurance payout amount, and then you’re responsible for 100% of everything after…some discount plans will work well as a supplement and continue to help you save on remaining out-of-pocket expenses after you’ve exhausted your insurance coverage. Just be sure to do your homework and do some comparison shopping before choosing your dental plan.
We have an awesome sliding fee clinic here were we live! great post!!