Affordable dental - no insurance (Lee: coupon, credit score, school)

[Leesa1010]

My finace needs a bridge/implant or denture for a missing tooth. He does not yet have insurance and cannot go on mine. I am looking for affordable dental clinics.

I have heard of affordable dentures in jax and will call tomorrow but does anyone know of any others.

Thanks

[SmileDoc]

Leesa, replacing a tooth is almost always a large investment, one that many times having a dental plan will not even help you. One of the better ways to replace a single tooth, is as you mentioned, with an implant, thus preserving the teeth on either side of a space. The bridge would/will remove healthy tooth structure on the teeth on either side of the space, and will cost about the same amount, about $2500 (give or take of course). The cheapest, but by far the most cumbersome, is getting what is called a partial denture. There is A LOT of plastic involved in these when you consider the fact we are talking about replacing a single tooth. So they are much better suited when we are looking to replace multiple teeth. However, the cost is about half of the implant/bridge($1200ish). What is offered out there is what is called CareCredit which is 3rd party financing which can allow your boyfriend to get a revolving line of credit specifically for medical needs, this can be done at 0% financing for a year. This is a wonderful way to get the help you need today through more affordible monthly payments. With CareCredit financing either the bridge or implant, at about $2500(ish), his monthly payment would be about $200 a month for a year. PM if you have any further questions.

[Katie1]

I think some one said there was a Dental School in JAX...Try them.

[riveree]

That CareCredit sounds really good, SmileDoc, do they accept everyone or is your credit score taken into account?

[SmileDoc]

Credit score is taken into account, but you can have someone co-sign if need be. However, imo, they are very good at approving applicants. What is really neat is that I have a number of guests that come into my office that are already set up w/ the service after having Lasiks, or even through their Vet. So you can use it in a lot of establishments w/ out needing everything up front.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by SmileDoc

Credit score is taken into account, but you can have someone co-sign if need be. However, imo, they are very good at approving applicants. What is really neat is that I have a number of guests that come into my office that are already set up w/ the service after having Lasiks, or even through their Vet. So you can use it in a lot of establishments w/ out needing everything up front.

That's a nice way to spread out the cost, great tip SmileDoc .

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by SmileDoc

Leesa, replacing a tooth is almost always a large investment, one that many times having a dental plan will not even help you. One of the better ways to replace a single tooth, is as you mentioned, with an implant, thus preserving the teeth on either side of a space. The bridge would/will remove healthy tooth structure on the teeth on either side of the space, and will cost about the same amount, about $2500 (give or take of course). The cheapest, but by far the most cumbersome, is getting what is called a partial denture. There is A LOT of plastic involved in these when you consider the fact we are talking about replacing a single tooth. So they are much better suited when we are looking to replace multiple teeth. However, the cost is about half of the implant/bridge($1200ish). What is offered out there is what is called CareCredit which is 3rd party financing which can allow your boyfriend to get a revolving line of credit specifically for medical needs, this can be done at 0% financing for a year. This is a wonderful way to get the help you need today through more affordible monthly payments. With CareCredit financing either the bridge or implant, at about $2500(ish), his monthly payment would be about $200 a month for a year. PM if you have any further questions.

Ditto about the dental insurance. This topic is near and dear to my heart (or mouth) lol. I'm 55 and our generation didn't grow up with fluoride and today's technology nor did we all have braces like our kids do today, so I've had alot of things done over the years. My son, at 28 has perfect teeth by contrast. Better genes (father), better technology.

I can tell you as a patient, dental insurance, however helpful, can constrain you to general practice dentists, chain operations, and new graduates for example, not cosmetic dentists and your end result can be less than desirable especially over time. It's great to have but not ideal for a missing tooth situation. Chosing a dentist with the right education and experience for your BF's needs will get him the most successful outcome. There is continuing education for this specialty just like all specialties.

I'm walking around with alot of provisional restoration (temporary work) in progress and have full dental insurance and didn't use it, because I wanted to use a cosmetic dentist. (it's very limited what if any plans your specialists will accept but they will submit your insurance for direct payment to you but they wont always pay you much if the dentist is off network).

My temporary work was a little gift to myself to "correct" a lifetime of insurance work and to have all my teeth finally "match" in terms of appearance. More important than appearance, I wanted to make sure that every tooth was healthy for a good foundation. I had one tooth filled incorrectly several times in two years and it was really getting on my nerves that my insurance dentists weren't technically or educationally able to resolve that tooth. And it was a really important tooth, too number 9 right in the FRONT!!

I had some deteriorated bonding, replacing some old caps and fillings, some mild crowding etc, But I have a bridge (two caps and a fake, numbers 4,5,6) that's been in there for 30 years and held up beautifully, from a cosmetic dental perfectionist. That bridge looks better than my natural teeth, in appearance lol (they didn't call them that back then but he is now, and a periodontist specialist as well).

It depends on which tooth it is, imo, but they mostly all "show" and I would highly recommend paying the bit more and seeing the best cosmetic dentist you can find. There are also excellent implant specialists who are periodontists because the two disciplines intersect and there is "surgery" involved. Even with a bit of a drive somewhere, the results will be much better. It's a longish process, especially with an implant. This only means you have some healing time and a few visits from beginning to end but it's not a big deal (tell him don't be scared, it's nothing at all )

An example is, what kind of "bone material" they use in the implant site and other decisions about the individual patient that give them the best chance for success (that means like the potting soil when you plant a flower lol).

You want the guy that all the new dentists call for advise, not the new dentist calling the experts for advise.

You [he] can get a good solid consult for about 90 - 150.00 with a full mouth exam, perio evaluation, xrays and have the entire mouth evaluated and a recommended treatment plan because a good dentist won't just agree to examine and "fix" one tooth, without examining it's neighbors.

That's a good thing. The implant (or bridge) will fail if the patient has gum disease which is a term for anything from mild inflammation to a more serious situation for example. Gum disease is a common condition without symptoms frequently so people can't assume they don't have any. It's fairly easy to arrest provided the patient follows a few simple rules. This ensures overall dental health and then they work with you to prioritize the budget to fit each patient like what's urgent, elective or just cosmetic. Carecredit is great for that, too. Also ime, these perfectionist cosmetic dentists have excellent dental hygenists that really do a great job with cleaning and that isn't always the case everywhere. You will get a written agreement on the treatment plan and that will include a certain guarantee provided the patient follows the conditions (regarding visits and cleaning etc)

Color matching, matching the gum line, shape, size and preparation are all factors and your cosmetic dentist is usually part artist /part technician and a perfectionist. There's also the issue of quality control, making sure that the lab sends a perfect tooth without defects and meeting the dentist's requirements, and the dentist having the experience to know the tooth was made properly, like all the margins were right etc. And making adjustments with their own hand, and tools, as they fit it into the mouth. Like fitting a window into a house. They don't just grab a tooth from the shelf and stick it in there ha ha.

Implants (and bridges too) can be very tricky to do in the "front" where the tooth has to fit angled into place with it's neighbors visibly versus, say a molar or in the back where you're not so concerned with appearance over function. There is an important issue after an extraction or tooth lost to a trauma where the gum deflates (goes converse like a bashed in dent) without a tooth in there over time. That's where you see those people with the indented deal with a pushed in gum. They have ways to fix that.

You'd hate to walk around forever after spending a couple thousand dollars on a tooth and think it looks "off". IMO if I wasn't in the position to pay for a cosmetic dentist and the entire treatment plan I would go with a removable appliance for now rather than spend more for "substandard" results. No offense to dentists but they don't always have the knowledge that prevents subsequent discoloration from within for example, or the dreaded metal line up by the gumline that sticks out like a sore thumb.

My dentist is like a dental-nerd meaning LOVES to talk about teeth, very enthusiastic and excited about each tooth he works on and really is fun to go to. It's really funny to see him sit back and stare at your mouth for a long time thinking and scheming up his next decision ha ha.

That's what I like, somebody who loves their work. As you can tell I love dentists and the great technology we have now, in fact I'm going back to mine in Philly next week for a two month checkup and getting molds made for my next set of either provisionals or permanents!

My dentist gave me the name of a colleague in case of emergency in Boca or WPB I forget... area if you're interested feel free to dm me, I have it around here somewhere.

[julie59]

alright here is the deal i need dentures and do not have aloot of money 2 spend and 4 the last 10 yrs have been trying 2 do somethin bout it and have not ben able 2 have not been 2 a dentist in bout 15 yrs i have only 12 teth in my mouth and they are starting 2 fall out and hurt bady someone please helppppp

Moderator cut: I am sorry about your situation, but please have people DM you instead of putting your e-mail address here

[fsu813]

UF Dental school is near Shands hospital, a couple miles outside of Downtown.

[LandShark99]

Dental Plans.com. It's not insurance but a dental discount plan. There are probably a dozen plans you can choose from. If you need expensive work look for the ones that give a larger discount on that kind of work. If you mostly need cleanings pick one that has all those and the 6 month check up and xrays free to very cheap. It's only a little over $100 for 13 months for the less expensive ones. I got Carington Care and it's great. Good dentists and even a great Periodontist.

If you need the free/almost free cleanings and the more expensive work (crowns, bridges, etc) consider getting two plans! When you look at the costs of the work and think if you are saving hundreds on each tooth it's well worth a couple of hundred bucks for 2 plans. Yes, you can get two. I asked.

I also found a coupon online for about $25 off and used it which brought my plan cost way down.

They have charts with the costs of each procedure for each plan, also charts of dentists with locations etc and how many are in each plan by specialty. I think there were only two plans that had Perodontists in the Jax area so I picked one of those that had the most specialists and had some of each. Not every plan has dentists in every specialty in the area.

I'm pretty sure there is a link on there for the CareCredit too that Smile Doc spoke of.