Nurse with Dental Problems

Sis123 · Mar 15, 2005

Go to the nearest University with a School of Dentistry. They usually provide dental care services at a reduced price, in exchange for you letting dental student do the work. They usually do a good job considering that their instructors are watching them. Take care of your teeth. Also, many dentists take VISA & credit cards.

Sis

WickedRedRN, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2005

Oh, do I ever hear you!

Self confessed dental phobic here. I would say find a good dentist who will work with you on the problems, and take payments, or (pardon the pun) bite the bullet and put it on credit card or finance. I know most of the dentists around here offer financing for major things. Are there any dental schools in your area? They often times treat people for far less than regular dentist would charge since they are a school.

Trust me, the ONLY reason I force myself to go is the same reason you just mentioned...I dont want dentures. I have my final periodontal surgery this Friday. It has been 3 loooong years to work through all the problems, starting with cleanings (which I had to be sent to a periodontist for my gum disease treatments) fillings, 4 sugeries for the gum disease, and one extraction. Once I am healed from this last surgery, I am treating myself to a whitening or veeners. I figure for all this suffering I may as well go all the way and get "The Swan" smile :rotfl: :rotfl:

nurseangel78 · Mar 15, 2005

I am looking into the schools, colleges, clinics dental work thing now. Hopefully I will luck up and find something soon. If that does not work, I will just have to find a dentist that does financing.

Re: The Swan Thing, I have almost applied for the Extreme Makeover just to get the Teeth done and the Laser eye surgery, forget the lipo and breast augmentation,even though I do need it.:chuckle

Nesher, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2005

I am curious - are you working? Don't you get dental and medical insurance through work?

I had tons of dental issues when I got my first nursing job - thankfully i just do the cleanings q 6 months now.

Just as an aside - Crest white strips are great! Plus rinsing your mouth with H2O2 - really - rinse well after of course ( it whitens).

Good luck finding what you need - don't give up until you do!

happytobehere96 · Mar 15, 2005

I am curious - are you working? Don't you get dental and medical insurance through work?
I had tons of dental issues when I got my first nursing job - thankfully i just do the cleanings q 6 months now.
Just as an aside - Crest white strips are great! Plus rinsing your mouth with H2O2 - really - rinse well after of course ( it whitens).
Good luck finding what you need - don't give up until you do!

Pardon me if this question is stupid, but how do you get the whitestrips to stay on. I tried them and could not get them to stay on. I attempted twice and gave up.

LilRedRN1973 · Mar 15, 2005

I can sympathize with you. I had perfect teeth (maybe not perfect looking, but not one cavity) until I was 18. I was lucky....I didn't take very good care of my teeth...it was genetics. Then, the soda drinking began. After about a year of drinking Coke (about 4-6 a day), I went to the dentist....8 cavities, all in the front. I wasn't able to keep up with the fillings because of the cost, they turned into root canals. Those went bad and I just recently had the four front lower teeth all pulled, plus bone grafts, plus tissue grafting that was taken from the roof of my mouth and stitched below because I didn't have enough gum tissue. I'm lucky...my periodontist is good friends with my brother in law and sister in law's dad (they are both in perio school and will be done in a couple of years). He gave me a HUGE deal....without it, it would have cost me $12,000 for 4 teeth pulled, tissue grafting to 2 teeth, bone grafts to 4 teeth, 8 crowns, 2 root canals, and I think there's a bridge thrown in there.

I keep private dental insurance at a cost of $50.00 a month that covers $2000 a year for me and then my husband's insurance covers me up to $1500 a year. So I have $3500 a year to play with for dental work. It sucks and I'm glad to be almost through with it. There is nothing worse than having your teeth fall out the morning of clinicals and you have to go in and speak to patient missing your front lower teeth. I hated it and hated myself. I didn't want to leave the house. I was miserable. Once my in-laws are out of school, I will be getting implants at cost where I had the teeth pulled.

Look for dental/perio schools in your area. They are cheaper than the real thing and although they may not have as much experience, I've seen the work my in-laws have done on their patients as students.....awesome!

Look for a dentist or perio that will work with you on payments. Apply through Capital One for their dental plan, if you can afford and qualify for it.

I don't think people who have nice teeth know what they have. I don't look at another girl and think "she's got a nice body" or "she's got a nice butt".....LOL...nope, my green monster comes out when I see a nice set of chompers!!!!

Melanie = )

p.s. I have also contemplated applying for Extreme Makeover just to get all my dental work done (and maybe my tattoos removed). By the time it's all over, I will have a Mercedes in my stinkin' mouth!!!!

prmenrs, RN · Mar 15, 2005

Is there anyone doing sedation dentistry in your area--if you can finance/charge it, it sounds like the way to go.

Good Luck!!

nurseangel78 · Mar 15, 2005

I went to the dentist this morning. Another abscessed tooth. Either root canal or extraction. I can't afford the root canal, so here goes another one gone. I do not have any insurance, because I only work PRN 2 days a week and go to school full time. I have about 5 filings to go and I need braces also, because I sucked my thumb (LOL) as a child until I was 15 years old. Thanks for all the advice thus far. I will continue on my journey for a wonderful smile!

LilRedRN1973 · Mar 15, 2005

Is there any way you can afford $50 a month for private dental insurance? I love my Multiflex insurance and even though there's a waiting period for things like crowns, they start covering fillings almost immediately. They have been a big help (especially covering my IV sedation with my last appt....Versed ROCKS!!).

I have been with this company for just under 2 years and have no complaints. They take care of claims efficiently and haven't denied any. I pay a bit more for the $2000 limit, but I believe they also offer a $1000 and a $1500 a year limit for a smaller monthly fee.

I wish you the best. I'm counting down the days until I finish school so we can work on getting my hubbie's teeth fixed next. He's been so great, waiting for me to get all of mine done because he said my mouth had more severe problems. But he's got several extractions that need to be done, some root canals, a bridge, and several fillings. My first month's salary is already gone....LOL!!

Melanie = )

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 15, 2005

IV sedation rules. God bless Versed.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 15, 2005

I have never had IV sedation, but I do use nitrous. It works fairly well, if only to keep me from running and screaming (literally) from the drills. Ihad some VERY bad experiences in the military w/very NON gentle dentist/oral surgeons. Nuff said. I have never tried IV sedation. My dentist does not to do that. I sometimes wish he did. Even nitrous is not enough sometimes to keep my blood pressure and heart rate from rising to very high levels.