My husband broke a tooth several months ago. In the last few days his face has swollen up A LOT and I could feel a large lump on the outside of his face. He’s been mashing his cereal in the microwave because he cannot open his mouth fully or chew for that matter. The swelling has gone up at times and come down a bit at times. I’m very worried about him as things like MRSA and going septic can happen. That and he is in EXTREME pain! My husband has a ridiculously high tolerance for pain so to see him constantly squirming with tears in his eyes popping Motrin 800′s like tic-tacs is VERY unnerving.
He has asked me to try to find a way for him to get the tooth pulled as he is computer illiterate and I am very much the opposite. I have heard several different possibilities and was wondering if anyone knows there to be any truth to any of these.
1 — A dental school. I’ve always been under the impression that you could go into a dental school and get some work done free of charge so long as you don’t mind being a guinea pig for a student who could have a shaky hand and be far sighted! This is not something my husband is comfortable with doing, but I do ask because I have no idea why I’m under the impression that this is done and am wondering if any one knows if there is any truth to it.
2 — Someone told me that you could go to an emergency room and get it done for free! I have never hear of such a thing and am very doubtful. My mother-in-law works as a surgical tech in a nearby hospital. She hasn’t mentioned this option to us. I’m wondering if that’s because she doesn’t know of it or because its a complete fib.
3 — Finding a cheap dentist who would pull the tooth for anywhere near and up a sliding scale based on insurance / lack there of / patient. I don’t know how comfortable I would be with a doctor who pocketed a twenty and then went to work on my husbands face. Something about it is just a little unsettling to me. Plus, would he be attended to as well as if he had insurance? Would he be numbed and medicated the same? I guess there probably wouldn’t be a great chance of him getting medication affter the tooth is pulled, be it for pain or infection prevention.
If I were one of those internet nerds, this is where I would write “sighs” haha. I don’t know what to do. I need to find something for my husband to do because seeing him in this much pain is truly breaking my heart. He is such a strong man and this tooth problem has at times nearly brought him to his knees in pain. I cannot take it! Its hurting me just seeing him in this pain I can’t imagine how he is feeling.
Someone please help us! We’re trying so hard to find a way to ease his pain. Its really difficult as I’ve said to watch him hurting. So does anyone know if theres any truth to any of the above? Free pull at the emergency room? Free pull at a dental school (yikes! gulp!)
We’re in Maryland btw, in Baltimore County, Essex and Lutherville areas though we are just five minutes from Baltimore City and ten from Towson. Well he is ten from Towson I am not even a minute from Towson circle and the Towson Town Center mall. Thats the area where we are though I am more than willing to travel as far as we must to get this done for him.
Someone please help!
Please!
I went through this a couple of years ago when I didn’t have insurance and no means to pay for anything. I broke a tooth and suffered for quite some time before I “got lucky” and the nerve died. Ironically it died a month before I was able to have the tooth gutted. I say “got lucky” because how lucky was I to break the tooth in the first place and suffer through those months? lol I’m 9 months pregnant (or rather I will be 9 months pregnant this Friday) and fully believe some dental pains to be worse than child birth! Haha. But ask me again in a month. 
Yeah I really don’t believe that the emergency room will do anything other than dish out some weak pain pills. If it does get super swollen again though I’ve made my husband promise to let me take him because though they may not be able to pull the tooth they will be able to tell if it gets septic or he gets MRSA in his blood stream and in those cases (GOD forbid!!!) he would have to be admitted.
Ugh, I’m so frusterated I just want
You can go get it done on a sliding scale type place. They are very good, your husband will be in good hands. Or you can go to any old dentist and have it done and pay for it.
If you are willing to travel any distance, with gas as much as it is, just apply that gas money to a dentist and you’re set.
As far as I know, none of these are true, except maybe the dental student one, but I wouldn’t trust that at all. Most dentist offices will allow you to set up payment plans according to your budget. It is unlikely that you will find someone who does it for cheap, because most prices are generally the same. If you can find a real cheap one, it’s probably cheap because the person is unlicensed or the quality of his/her work is really bad. Just take your husband to the dentist, explain the situation, your financial circumstances, and your budget, and I’m sure you can work something out to where you only pay a small amount every month to pay it off. I don’t think getting a tooth pulled is that expensive, either, so you just may be in luck.
Is the tooth thats hurting the one that broke cause if he’s in pain now he will feel like dying if he don’t have something done, take it out or something because food, liquids will eventually continue to erode and upset the nerve until he has a massive full blown go to the emergency room panic pain. Dont Wait to get something done it will only get worse. I let a tooth like that go once and I thought I had a tumor that erupted in my brain. I went to the emergency room and they said I don’t need a doctor I need a dentist. I didn’t know the pain was from my tooth it came from an exposed nerve.
Here’s a link that provides area clinics. Mostly medical but some provide dental services:
http://www.needymeds.org/free_clinics.taf?_function=list&state=md
Those places specialize in low income, no insurance patients.
By the way, your husband sounds like he has a very infected tooth. So they might have to give him penicillin first to clear out the infection, then extract it. Mine was infected and it was unreal pain. I took penicillin for a week, went back, and got it pulled without issues.
Good luck.
You can easily check your minimal health care rates in internet, for example here – healthquotes.awardspace.info