15 Sep 2020 Having to pay a large dental bill can be very frustrating and stressful for many people on a low, middle or fixed income. While many people save money to cover medical expenses, dental work often isn’t included in those savings; which puts dental health at the backbench. This further leads to worsening of the situation and loss of teeth, smile, confidence and self-esteem for a person. After the eyes, the smile is considered to be the feature that enhances our facial aesthetics. It should be no more difficult to pay for your dental bill then paying for two coffees per week from a café or your visit to the hairdresser every few months.
So if dental care is managed well, then it should not be expensive. In fact, dentistry is not expensive, neglect is.
Tips to manage dental bills:
- Go to your dentist regularly. As we all know, prevention is cheaper than cure.
- Generally, if a filling of a cavity is detected early the cost can be as little as $200 but if left to decay and rot, the same tooth can cost up to $5000 to save. If the tooth needs extraction then it can cost up to $7000 to replace the tooth. Given a decision between spending $200 or $7000, the answer is pretty obvious.
- Also, there are weekly payment plans available for routine checkup and cleans which generally have huge savings as well. This takes stress away from that cost as well.
- Most dentists will also give some loyalty discounts as well for taking the initiative to look after your teeth. So dentistry is not much strain on your pocket if planned well.
Yes, there would be cases where teeth are already in poor shape due to neglect over a period of time. In that case, just the preventive approach may not fit.
You can finance dental work for both necessary procedures such as cavities root canals, dentures as well as cosmetic dental work such as teeth whitening.
In a nutshell, the situation is not as hopeless as most of you would think. Most dental surgeries do have payment plans available to help you to bring your oral health on track. With these mostly interest-free payment plans, you can reduce the burden of your dental treatment and pay over regular instalments.
If you have been a long-standing patient at your dental office or if you have a payment history at the dentist that shows you can pay your bills on time, you may be able to arrange a payment plan with your dentist. You can then arrange to pay the remainder of the bill in fixed monthly payments.
Do not lose hope. You can call us today if you need to pay off your dental treatment. We offer Afterpay as well as finance and payment plan options both for preventative check-ups and treatments at all our surgeries in Willoughby East, Elermore Vale, Wingham and Tuncurry.