Dental school, without a doubt. The work will be supervised by a professor.

Check to see if dental schools are working on patients due to Covid. Be prepared though, using dental students is a slow process.

Dental school, for sure. My ex was a dentist. Everything they did in the clinic was closely watched by an experienced dentist. Yes, it can be slow but if he’s not in pain, it’s worth the wait.

If it's not a necessary tooth have it pulled.

"my hubby has a broken tooth, and we don't have dental insurance. What do
you think is a better option, a dental school, or a low cost clinic?"

You don't need to have insurance to see a dentist - and the better ones don't take insurance - but I'll assume you're saying there's an affordability factor you're considering.

I wouldn't recommend going to a dental school's student clinic. It can take weeks before treatment is done. The drill is often schedule initial appointment for exam, be assessed, schedule second appointment for treatment. Maybe the timeline gets sped up for a more urgent need, I don't know. When treated by a student, you're a guinea pig receiving services from someone with no experience and oftentimes who's very nervous. It's like having your hair cut at a barber college. Dental schools often have faculty clinics too, but the prices (and experience level of the provider) are normally comparable to a private practice.

If the numbers in your user name are the zip code where you are, I'd suggest Western Dental. Perhaps that's the low cost clinic you were considering? The downside of Western Dental is that it's not a mecca of excellent dentists, often a bit of the opposite. But presumably more skilled than a dental student. And somewhat below market prices.

The dental school in that area (Western University, no relation to Western Dental) isn't that highly regarded and I probably wouldn't go there in any event.

Good luck.

Maybe it would depend on what you think he will need. If he needs a crown or root canal, I wouldn't want to be at a dental school or low-cost clinic. I know these procedures are very expensive but if not done properly one can end up at another dental office trying to fix the work done.

I'm assuming you don't have a regular dentist - Ask friends about their dentists and if you don't have a dentist be careful about those who will try to sell you treatments that you don't want, don't need or can't afford.

Unfortunately, cost is a consideration. He's on disability, so money is very tight.

Best wishes,

Might you qualify for Medi-Cal Dental coverage? It's for lower income folks. I believe Western Dental accepts it and I suspect dental schools do too.

There are also community dental clinics, often federally funded. For those, charges are often based on ability to pay.

Dental school. Everything is supervised.

what about contacting a social service agency - without presuming your circumstances but you might qualify for some sort of government funded emergency dental care - especially if you're a senior.

He doesn't qualify for Medi-Cal. And he's not a senior. Thanks every one, I'm going to start making some calls.

I'm sorry, Rita. These unexpected expenses 'really bite' sometimes, don't they. It sounds like he needs care now with a broken tooth where postponing could run into higher expenses later. Hopefully you have a dental school nearby since you asked about that....we don't have one.

I just thought I'd mention that often dentists will discount the uninsured, or discount for cash. You might have to ask. Before my mother changed to Kaiser Advantage seniors insurance, she had no dental. Her dentist discounted 20% for uninsured seniors bill's paid in full within 30 days.

Many dentists here offer payment plans. My daughter has had dental work costing several thousand and her dentist says pay what you can! Of course, I'm sure he expects more than $5 a month, but it's a relief to know that he will work with her.

https://www.charitablesmiles.org/

We use already established dental practices around the nation and their infrastructure. These practices and their participating clinicians volunteer to service our patients.

There’s no such thing as a tooth that’s not necessary . Do not have it pulled. If he needs a bridge some day he may need that tooth to anchor the bridge. Your teeth affect your face and jaw. Without a tooth, the ones next to it and above it will shift creating new problems.

The diagnosis and treatment options should be assessed by a dentist who has examined it.

Dental problems and payments stink big time. My dentist offers payment plans and is really gracious. He does really well but I don't think he is a money hungry grubber. Perhaps you can get some recommendations from friends/coworkers? I like credit care card idea as well.

"But to say that "the better ones don't take insurance" is really bizarre."

I don't expect someone who had an internally focused administrative job with a government department to be familiar with what happens in the private sector. There's no need to be obnoxious about what you don't know.

Yes, better dentists don't take insurance, they don't need to. Dental insurance reimbursements almost always involve a discount from standard rates. Dentists with the highest of reputations don't accept insurance because they can stay busy and make more money with patients willing to pay their standard rates with no discounts. For those patients who have insurance, the dentist will provide paperwork to facilitate the patient submitting a claim as an out of network service but won't bill directly because that binds them to the payment made by the insurance company. It's expected in such cases that the patient pays the gap between what insurance reimburses them and what the dentist charges.

California has a Denti-Cal program providing "insurance" for dental services for low income adults and, more importantly, children. There's a problem though because very, very few dentists accept Denti-Cal. Its reimbursement rates (compared to customary fees) are quite low. Many that do sometimes limit it to a small percentage of their practice as a way to help out underprivileged folks, a analog to a lawyer doing some pro bono work. That's also probably news to a state worker too, some irony there.

There are physicians who don't take Medicare patients for the same reason. Also physicians who won't accept medical insurance and act the same way. One surgeon who operated on one of my kids for a sports injury had a sign in his office "Our medical services are charged at rates that exceed what insurance companies find "customary" in this area. For that reason we don't accept insurance. It is your responsibility to submit our bills as out of network services if you wish but patients are liable for our full charges, without regard to what insurance reimbursements you may receive."

My dentist charges more than what insurance finds customary. He bills for me, sends me a final statement after my insurance has paid. I then pay the difference - he does not reduce his fee to coincide with their standards. I've been seeing a specialist this year in prep for having one molar implanted, hopefully by years end. That office too is billing ins for me, but promptly sends me a statement for differences - which are significant ;0) I'm finding my insurance coverage for an implant is not especially generous.

What you're describing morz8 sounds like the case when there is "some" insurance coverage for a procedure but it's subject to a limit, either annually or by nature of the procedure. An example, many plans may cover "some" orthodontia for each family member but at a dollar limit that envisions a gap the patient pays.

When a dentist accepts insurance, Delta Dental as an example, they aren't permitted to bill the patient for services that are fully covered and within annual limits of service but for which a reimbursement discount is in place. Arbitrary example - If the dentist normally charges $150 for dental hygiene and accepts your insurance plan, and if the insurance plan only will pay $110 for the hygiene session, normally the dentist eats the difference and can't bill it to the patient.

Are you saying in such a case you'd be billed the $40? Or are you talking about something like prosthetic work, as an arbitrary example, where there's an annual limit of, say, $1000 but the dentist is doing work for which the charge is $2500 and you have to pay the $1500 difference? That's different.

Elmer, I was talking per procedure, not annual limits - I would be billed the $40 - the difference left from the dentists fee after insurance has paid what they call customary. As small business owners we've had a private policy for years not employer based coverage. There are few coverages available to us living in this county, this state. I always have a balance after seeing the dentist, whether its for a 6 month check and cleaning or work done - filling, crown replacement, etc. No adjustments are made to bring the fees to the amount my insurance pays. In conversation with DH once, the dentist said he can't afford to provide work at the rate insurance allows. He charges what he thinks is fair for his skills, insurance pays what they feel is fair, and I pay the difference.

Our health coverage pays as you describe, but not our dental.

" the dentist said he can't afford to provide work at the rate insurance allows."

Exactly. That's why in my area those who can keep fully busy with non-insurance accepting practices do so.

I'll have to ask my source if billing the shortfall in my state is permitted, it was my understanding it's not.

"If the dentist normally charges $150 for dental hygiene and accepts your insurance plan, and if the insurance plan only will pay $110 for the hygiene session, normally the dentist eats the difference and can't bill it to the patient."

No, the dentist cannot bill the patient for the difference, but the dentist can, and does use that gap amount as a business write-off on his/her tax return.

"I'll have to ask my source..."

Translation: "I'll have to ask my kid who is a dentist..."

"the dentist can, and does use that gap amount as a business write-off on his/her tax return."

This is incorrect, completely wrong. There is no tax deduction (write-off) involved at all in these circumstances. Zero.

It might be better for you to restrict your comments to when clerical questions of California governmental departments come up, that's presumably where your knowledge is, based upon your career in a clerical state job.

"Translation: "I'll have to ask my kid who is a dentist...""

I have a neighbor and two VERY close friends who are dentists. I've never said what my kids do or don't do.

What's your source about how dental practices operate? Is what you've guessed about me, whether it's right or wrong, a negative in some way? Yes, I have several dentist sources for such information. How about you?

Take a break, your foolish guesses are just that and aren't adding to the conversation.

My dentist charges more than what insurance finds customary. He bills for me, sends me a final statement after my insurance has paid. I then pay the difference - he does not reduce his fee to coincide with their standards.

Morz, that is exactly my experience with dental insurance in two different states. Being billed for the difference between what the insurance deems customary and what the dentist charges. For procedures that insurance supposedly pays 50%, the actuality is that insurance may pay 35% of what has been billed.

Then when you get into crowns and root canals, the dentist sends you to an endodontist for the root canal--for which you get to wait for an average of 6 weeks for the first available appointment and then back to the dentist for the crowns.

I have a good friend who moved to Mexico--I visit her and use her dentist now.

One thing at a time:

This is for California. When a dentist agrees to accept a particular insurance plan, the most common services are subject to what's called a "contracted fee". The dentist has to agree to accept that (discounted) amount for those services and can't bill the shortfall to the patient. Billing a shortfall is called "balance billing" and isn't permitted by the insurance companies. Medical insurance frequently works the same way.

For other less common procedures, when the coverage is "we'll pay up to $X" with the anticipation that the patient pays the difference. This is for services for which there's not a contracted fee. Often there's often a stated discount for insurance company customers. As in (hypotheticallty), assume a cerac crown is reimbursed up to $500 per tooth and the dentist agrees to bill a particular insurance company's customers at 90% of their standard fee. If 90% of the dentist's standard charges is $600, the dentist will get $500 from the insurance company and they can bill the patient $100. I'll reiterate this doens't apply to the most common services for which there are fixed contracted fees.

cilantro, a 6 week wait for a specialist referral is a useless referral. Anyone experiencing this needs to find a new dentist or needs to find the specialist them-self. Strictly speaking, referrals aren't required.

Going to a Mexican dentist is its own reward. Mexico is a third world country - sure it's cheaper. As are dentists in other third world countries. The training and standards there are sub-par, you get what you pay for. There are practices that prey on American tourists looking for services based on price. It's not new.

When I check the fees my dentist charges against the annual cost of dental insurance I have always found it cheaper to just pay the charges. Even if I would have a major dental expense the amount that the insurance would cover is not enough to cover the whole thing. When I did have to have a crown nothing was said about how was I going to pay for it. They just assumed I would. It took me about 9 months the only thing I received was a monthly statement.

maifleur, that's because "dental insurance" is much less insurance in a classical financial sense and much more future service plan prepayments with a discount. It's why many dentists offer their patients their own "insurance" plans, with no insurance company involved providing coverage. It's a marketing strategy.

Only game in town endodontist keeps shop 3 days a week. I'm not keen on driving an hour or more to see another one and then having to drive back home. (I have had to drive 3 hours one way to get a root canal done--years ago & in another state.) My USA dentist works 4 days a week. My dentist in MX works 5 1/2 days a week when he isn't away somewhere else in MX or Europe on a training or teaching trip. I make sure he's going to be in town before I book.

Yes, there are bad dentists in MX. I have personal experience with two bad, minted in the USA dentists.

I have a personal connection in MX who has steered me to the dentist she uses. Through her business, she is well acquainted w/ who is good & who is bad so far as area dentists are concerned. I don't shop 'price'.

So, I spend 10 days-3 weeks in MX escaping Wisconsin winters, meeting people from all over the world, enjoying great food, spending time with my friend and having a great time while I'm gone. Dental work is the official excuse.

That's pretty cool, ci_lantro!

cilantro, so you live in a small town and have limited choices. That's got to be true about any goods or services you might want to have because limited or no breath of alternatives is typical of a small town, isn't it. That's a consequence of where you've decided to live.

If you choose to not drive to where there ARE alternatives, no matter what's involved, that's your choice. Small town providers are usually not their professions best and brightest - some may be okay - and getting good care may always require some travel. To curtail your access to needed medical care because you don't want to drive to where there are better choices (and dental care IS medical care) is a mistake. Yet traveling to Mexico for likely sub-par care is okay? Your decision to make.

The only people who can judge the skill and capability of a dentist is another dentist, not a patient. Dentists in Mexico are known to be horrible and well below the US standard. If you haven't had a horror story experience yet, you probably will. I hope not. I wish you well and wish you better judgement.

PS - I've seen many stories about how many middle class Mexicans (and there is a large and growing middle class) often come to the US for dental care. It's expensive for them but those that do consider it to be worth it. Does that tell you anything?

elmer, in his infinite stupidity and attempt to be clever, said: "It might be better for you to restrict your comments to when clerical questions of California governmental departments come up, that's presumably where your knowledge is, based upon your career in a clerical state job."

Yeah, no. In my State service career, I was never in a clerical position. This is the official classification specification for my position. How many people in clerical positions make $90,000+ per year - without a college degree?

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Under general direction, incumbents demonstrate a depth of leadership and expertise in one or more domains. Incumbents perform a wide variety of tasks requiring innovative problem-solving where guidance is not readily available. Incumbents optimize and apply architecture solutions for the benefit of the overall organization and play a major role in advising management or formulating information technology strategy and policy within the organization. Incumbents typically work in the Software Engineering, Information Security Engineering, Information Technology Project Management, or System Engineering domains.

Incumbents may: develop and ensure security solutions and technical artifacts are in place throughout all information technology systems and platforms; monitor and assess security controls, conduct security impact analyses, and report system security statuses; perform risk assessments and recommend information technology solutions; analyze incident-related data and determine the appropriate response; design new technologies, architectures, and solutions that will support security requirements; develop implementation plans including cost-benefit or return on investment analyses; design infrastructure configuration and change management standards or requirements; develop or update project plans for information technology projects; lead and mentor project teams; manage integration of information systems and/or subsystems; manage project(s) to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope; review software architecture and make recommendations regarding technical and operational feasibility; plan, design, and implement the enterprise data models using standardized modeling tools to align technology solutions with business strategies; perform configuration management and release management for system components; verify stability, interoperability, portability, security, or scalability of system architecture; create backup and recovery strategies; conduct disaster and recovery analysis, planning, implementation, and administration for systems; and monitor and conduct audits of system capacity, performance, and traffic analysis.

This has nothing to do with the dental topic.

IT worker-bee jobs usually don't require a college degree. They can be slightly higher paying than other clerical/administrative jobs because of the nature of the tasks involved and the fact that a lot of people don't find the lower level repetitive work that interesting. Keep in mind that the $70-$100K range is not that unusual in the private sector for clerical roles referred to as "administrative assistants". The better ones do a wide range of things. Many do work comparable to jobs that used to be called "secretaries", irrespective of gender. The tasks are mostly clerical all the same.

People with a relevant college degree in IT fields or a degree plus work experience qualify for much higher level, higher paid and less clerical positions and typically are happier in such roles.

I know from my own experience, I oversaw an IT department in the private sector with a range of skill sets from managers down to the more clerical network and system administrator worker-bees and hardware jockeys as a side-responsibility in a location of 500 users for about 5 years. These days, large IT systems and the work they enable are mission critical, heart of the organization capabilities and all shuts down when there are problems. Not a place to pinch pennies or try to save money. Having said that, I found that once topology, system, and software choices are made, implemented and installed (which can often be years of work for a small army of smart people), maintaining status quo functionality (other than hiccups and equipment failures) can be pretty boring and perfunctory. The higher level people were always happier when they could spend some time thinking and working on enhancement projects and new capabilities.