If you have a cavity that you can't afford to deal with go get some clove oil ( yes, I know how people feel about essential oils and I usually agree- but this is legit) and cotton swabs. Soak the swab in the oil to excess and then put the swab in the cavity and squeeze the excess oil into the cavity. This is going to taste like you ate a thousand pounds of cinnamon and your mouth might water- a lot, but clove oil is a dentist approved antiseptic. You have to be careful, it can burn your face skin if you get it anywhere unintended.

I have been slowly losing my teeth over the past decade and am too broke to fix it, so I had to rely on clove oil between being able to afford extractions. It helped a lot. If the oil doesn't work then the infection is too far gone and you need good antibiotics. They wouldn't even be able to extract a tooth that bad.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Go to dental schools, way cheaper, have payment plans and insurance companies usually comp it fully.

[–] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And rarely available, and far away for most people. Getting in to a dental school for complicated work is like winning the lottery.

[–] ChewTiger@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They are not talking about going to school but having people at the school do the dental work.

[–] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I know... There are 10 dental schools in Canada, the odds of getting in to one to have any work done are almost literally like winning the lottery. I'm sure it's not much better in the U.S. plus you have to be lucky enough to live near one. The nearest major city to me is 8 hours away. And typically you have to fit within an income threshold, which we don't as we are a two income household with benefit, albeit benefits that are quite limited.

[–] poinck@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (26 children)

Rethorical question: Where in the world your insurance doesn't cover this?

And: Buying a house .. I don't know what to say about this. Who would do such a thing?

[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

The USA

[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

In Denmark, the social democratic Nordic welfare paradise, universal healthcare does not cover dental care for adults. If you're really poor and have an emergency you might have some luck begging the local municipality to pay for having the offending tooth pulled out but that's about it.

The result is a wide class disparity in dental health and even people who are not poor think twice before going to the dentist, resulting in issues growing worse than they had to be.

Some private insurance exists but they are free to reject you as a customer if your dental health is already bad.

Nobody likes the current system or want to be seen defending it. The only argument that's given for maintaining the status quo is that doing the right thing would be too expensive.

[–] ElHexo@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Same in Australia

[–] poinck@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I find this cruel.

[–] scottywh@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dental insurance in the US is absolute garbage that barely covers anything really.

[–] ExLisper@linux.community 2 points 1 year ago

Dental is tricky in many countries. It's delicate, easy to go wrong and very often painful. In Poland I used to do simple things like fillings using public insurance and I've heard many times that I'm crazy and for sure they will fuck it up. I think it's simply because it's it expensive and will go wrong people will think it was inevitable. But if it's free and goes wrong people will say it's because it was free. So in my experience even if public insurance covers dental people tend to avoid it.

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[+] g8phcon2@kbin.social -11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

my parents didn't have teeth by the time they were in their 30s either. Americans have a rather out-of-proportion concern about their teeth. I know its a trope that Englishman have bad teeth, but look, dental isn't covered by British universal health care because most times its primarily cosmetic , even things American dentists say are essential, and not a true health concern.

[–] mythosync@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Go ahead and live with dentures then. When your bottoms pop out every time you eat steak, remember what you said here. Teeth are absolutely essential. It’s cheaper to take care of your natural teeth than it is to drop 30k on implant-supported dentures, or if you’re broke, just basic ones.

Source: I work in the field. Bottom dentures are by far the most disappointing service we do.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

lol at the thought of “this part of your body that you use multiple times every day for vital survival functions and various other functions like communication is mostly cosmetic, you’ll do just fine without!”

Teeth bleaching is cosmetic, crowns and fillings and whatever are restoration of normal functioning.

If we were meant to be ok without properly functioning teeth, we wouldn’t have teeth in the first place. That’s a stupid argument biologically speaking. (No offense intended to you personally, ofc)

I understand that Americans have a disproportionate focus on the -specifically cosmetic- aspects of oral hygiene, whiteness and straightness, primarily, but to say that most oral care is unnecessary and purely cosmetic is just absolute hogwash.

Mind you this is from someone who intends to get all her teeth ripped out and replaced with implants because no matter what I do, I average a cavity every 2-4 years. It’s cheaper in the long run to get implanted dentures than to fight my genes. So I understand entirely the being toothless by 30 (tho I’m 36 and still have all of them, I think I have more fillings than teeth at this point, and if most of those weren’t done free in the military I’d just have no teeth) but I disagree vehemently with the idea that that’s totally fine and won’t cause problems.

[–] ThatFembyWho@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

oh it's fine, you know how when deer get old and their teeth are all worn away or whatever, and they can't eat anymore and they just starve to death... it's just part of life! /s

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

Is that actually a thing people say? I live in the north woods and I’ve not heard that…particular logic… then again I tend to avoid hunters..

But omg purposely letting something starve because of its biological shortcomings is not the way. I’d for sure be dead in that world.

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