Dental care & the degree of difficulty

[SoCalDem]

Lots of poor people with no dental coverage do without it, but there is another wrinkle to it.

Dental issues often take multiple visits to resolve, and if you have sketchy transportation, no money , and a low-paid job with sketchy scheduling that you have no say in, you might find yourself unable to get to all the dental appointments necessary.

Modern dentistry is almost an artistic thing these days, and the work that dentists can do is amazing, but their time costs money, and the labs that make the various dental appliances that are often needed after years of neglect, do not come cheaply either.

Dental coverage is not all it's cracked up to be a lot of the time, and for people having a hard time coming up with money to pay the water bill or the rent or to put gas in their car, well..their teeth get ignored.

If you are lucky enough to live near a dental school, you can get pretty good prices from them, but the waiting lists are horrendous, and the procedures get broken down into even MORE office visits.

Seeing a dentist is not like going to the ER for a gashed foot.. they stitch you up, give you a prescription, and you are done.. but a dental issue could easily involve 4 or 5 visits to resolve one problem-tooth.

Lots of people just are not able to make the necessary commitment of time and money.

[NNN0LHI]

1. Without having a union contract negotiating Dental Coverage for us I would have been bankrupt

This is a fact.

Don

[XanaDUer]

2. All true, excellent observations...

as I've posted on another thread- my SO is on Medicare and has not dental insurance, and was just told that he'll need over 2000 grand in dental work. He has to take a disabled bus to appointments. If he didn't have that, he could not afford to take a cab there, and it's too far for a disabled person to walk. I cannot keep leaving my job to drive him, since I was laid off, had to take a much-less-money job, and am still on probation.

This will take, at minimum, three to four visits.