Whether you've declined the dental insurance offered by your employer due to limited coverage, or simply don't have access to affordable dental insurance, at some point in your life, you may find yourself without dental insurance. While routine cleanings and other treatments are inexpensive and can be cash-flowed relatively easily, if you run into a bigger dental issue, you may be stymied at how to proceed. What should you do if you suffer a dental emergency and don't have insurance? Should you go to an emergency room rather than an emergency dentist? Read on to learn more about the services performed by emergency rooms and emergency dentists, as well as ways to help pay for this treatment if not covered by insurance.
Where should you seek treatment of a dental emergency if you don't have insurance?
Your treatment decision primarily depends upon the type of dental emergency you're suffering. A knocked-out tooth (or teeth) or toothache so severe you can barely function are much different from a missing filling, and require immediate treatment -- no matter the cost. However, you'll usually want to seek this treatment from an emergency dentist, rather than an emergency room (even if you have primary health insurance that can cover the cost of the ER visit). This is because emergency dentists are specifically trained and licensed to deal with dental emergencies -- while ER physicians, although capable, often have specialties that lie in different areas.
In many cases, if you do visit an emergency room with a toothache or chipped or cracked tooth, you'll simply be given a prescription for painkillers and instructed to follow up with your dentist. By visiting an emergency dentist directly, you can avoid the wait for treatment and ensure that your dental problem is quickly and adequately corrected
How can you pay for this treatment?
You may be reluctant to seek treatment due to cost, even if your dental emergency is affecting the quality of your daily life. However, there are a number of ways to help pay for emergency dental treatment that won't break the bank.
If your dental emergency is due to the actions of another person (for example, if you were struck in the mouth by an errant baseball), you may want to investigate whether the person responsible for your injury is willing to cover these costs. Even if not, you may be able to incur treatment costs now and then sue this person for payment at a later time. The emergency dentist may also offer low-interest financing or other payment plans that can help defray the cost of emergency treatment or follow-up visits.
Whatever you do, don't put off necessary treatment due to cost concerns -- you only have one set of permanent teeth, and the cost to repair ongoing damage later may be much higher than the cost to fix the initial issue.
For more information, contact Family Dentistry Of Brick, PA or a similar location.
Share26 May 2015
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