What are some cheap option for dental care? I am in SE Michigan and my GF’s 23 y/o son has a cavity that needs filled. Would a university like UofM be much cheaper than just going to a regular dentist? Is there anywhere he can just call and make an appointment in a couple of days without being overly charged?
Not too familar with this as I’ve had good dental insurance for the past 25 years, but I remember the days when I didn’t and it was scary going to a dentist.
It looks like the U of M dental school can be cheaper than a private dentist, if he’s willing to see a dental student rather than one of their dentists. If he just needs a simple filling or two, the students are qualified and well-supervised.
My daughter went to a dentist at the dental school of her university. It was a disaster. He had to see patients one day a week to keep his license up, but he got rusty and screwed up her mouth. She finally went to a real dentist.
I’m looking myself. I’m calling around to check on prices. AARP (doesn’t work for the son I know) had a plan with reduced rates at specific dentists. But they all were in one clinic who had 90% 1 of 5 ratings on Yelp. (1 being low.)
I believe most public, county hospitals in the US provide some sort of dental care to lower-income folks. Though at least in some cases that may only be emergency dentistry related to trauma.
While at a dental school the work is mostly performed by students, at a hospital you may “move up” a notch and see resident DDSs
When I first met my wife, and she didn’t have insurance, she went to a chain corporate dentist, I think Comfort Dental, and her experience was pretty good. They talked her into joining their club, which gave her a big break on the cost of getting work done.
Joining was the right choice, too, because she needed a variety of more expensive things. It was a pretty easy calculation for her; $X amount to join the club saves $Y on needed services, and X < Y.
It wasn’t amazing or anything, but was reasonably affordable for someone with a part time job and a tooth ache.
Personally I wouldn’t skimp on dental care!
I believe most places would also want bite wing X-rays before proceeding to see exactly what is required.
If he is completely uninsured and not on his parents health insurance I’d recommend signing up for medical and dental through healthcare dot gov. 1/16 is deadline.