Dental insurance - tooth extraction (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara: low income, buying, school)

[jarahatake]

I do not have insurance currently.
A dentist told me that root-canal has failed in (tooth# 4) and I need to either do another RC or get the tooth extracted and go for an implant.

For extraction and bone graft - without insurance - cash payment - dentist is quoting: $500.00

I am looking for good dental insurance, but wondering if it would be cheaper with insurance? Are there any other options/suggestions.

[justinbro2002]

A dental implant is going to be at least a couple of grand. You might find some luck going to a dental school that needs patients for the students to practice on. They are closely monitored by the professors who are licensed dentists.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Are you in Santa Clara County? Make an appointment with Valley Medical Center to see if you qualify for their county/Medi-Cal program. Medi-Cal will do extractions for free. Not sure about the bone graft.

I lived in the county until 2 years ago, and was on the county insurance, then when I got Medi-Cal, I was still taken care of through Valley Medical Center. I found their health care to be great. If it turns out your extraction is challenging (I had one like that), then they can refer you to a specialist outside of the county system, and it's still free.

https://www.scvmc.org/patients/finan...ges/apply.aspx

There is a dental clinic at the VMC at Sunnyvale and at the Tully Clinic.

http://santaclara.networkofcare.org/...Clinic_356_2_0

https://www.scvmc.org/services/care/...sunnyvale.aspx

[Hemlock140]

I have had implants, and they were more like $4,000 each. With good insurance, they will usually pay half up to the annual maximum, $1,500 in my case so when I needed two I did the extractions then waited until the next year
for the implants. When you first buy insurance those procedures usually have a one year exclusion period. I would suggest buying the insurance, then pay cash for the extraction, and wait the year to do the implant.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by jarahatake

I do not have insurance currently.
A dentist told me that root-canal has failed in (tooth# 4) and I need to either do another RC or get the tooth extracted and go for an implant.

For extraction and bone graft - without insurance - cash payment - dentist is quoting: $500.00

I am looking for good dental insurance, but wondering if it would be cheaper with insurance? Are there any other options/suggestions.

I'd get another root canal. I had two root canals fail and had them re-done right through the crown, saving the expense of a new crown. But if that's not feasible, have you considered just getting it extracted and getting either a bridge or an implant sometime later? It shouldn't show when you smile, and won't impair chewing.

If you are low income and can get California medi-cal dental they would only pay for the extraction, they only do replacements on front teeth. As another poster correctly mentioned, if you buy insurance today it will take 12 months for coverage to kick in for procedures like that- and they generally have a $1,000 or $2,000 annual cap & don't cover implants. If you have the money and can come up with cash, some dentists will offer significant discounts for cash payment.

[jarahatake]

Thanks justinbro2002, NoMoreSnowForMe, Hemlock140, 2sleepy for your descriptive replies, really appreciate it.

[lolitalatina]

Does the Medicaid cover implants and braces? Somebody help. I am so confused.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by lolitalatina

Does the Medicaid cover implants and braces? Somebody help. I am so confused.

They don't cover implants for a single tooth replacement, only when necessary to serve as an anchor for dentures. They cover orthodontics but only when it's considered medically necessary (not just for appearance)

http://www.denti-cal.ca.gov/provsrvc...2/handbook.pdf