Here is a link to a site that explains about dentures and other dental services: http://www.locateadoc.com/articles.cfm/1097/1172

Here is a link to a site that will help you pay for dental and medical care: http://www.locateadoc.com/PatientFinancing/index.cfm

Good luck!

I am a dentist and the answer to your question (and your response to it) will PROFOUNDLY affect you for the rest of your life. Even in the 21st Century, the myth that older adults naturally loose their teeth just like they lost their “baby” teeth. THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!! There is no such thing as an “unnecessary” tooth, anymore than there is an expendable finger, toe, eye, ear or sparkplug. With the exception of wisdom teeth, EVERY permanent tooth has a specific function and is part of a well designed apparatus that reduces the size of what we eat so that the maximum nutrition can be extracted from our food. There is a direct relationship between retention of your natural dentition and your longevity!! Don’t believe it? You live in the “Retirement Capital of the World”!! The average age of a resident of St. Petersburg, FL is far greater than ANY other city in the world. Take a tour of any retirement home and locate the 10 oldest residents. At least 8 out of 10 of adults over the age of 100 have at least 75% of their natural teeth. It is extremely rare to find anyone over the age of 100 with no teeth. There are 3 major “enemies” of teeth that began to show up in the 16th century and have progressively worsened. The first is diet. Humans are designed to eat meat, fruit and nuts—PERIOD!! Not corn, peas, beans, greens, hotdogs, pizza, coke or Milky Ways. All of “modern” foods are a result of humans changing from “hunter/gatherers” to “farmer/cooks”. Certainly, being able to stay in one place and grow your food and trap the occasional deer, contributed to our diverse and successful species (that’s if we learn to not bomb each other). Animal (we ARE animals) adaptation takes 1000’s of years. Meat, fruits and nuts are naturally cleansing for our teeth. If you only ate those 3 things after you were weaned, you’d never loose a tooth due to the build up of plaque (gooey gunk that coats your teeth after you polish off a Micky D’s Big Meal. Dental plaque is a mixture up food particles, bacteria and the byproducts of the bacteria that eat the food particles (in other words—bacteria poop). The two main byproducts are acid (eats through the tooth enamel) and toxins (eats away the gums and bone around the teeth). Our bodies haven’t (and likely never will) catch up to our changing lifestyle. Teeth are no different—so check your diet out. One scoop of Ben and Jerry’s is not ruin your teeth, but a diet that doesn’t mostly include the natural “nuts and berries” that we are designed to consume, will doom your dentition. The second is smoking. Smoking and teeth are mutually incompatible---PERIOD!! After 30+ years in practice, I’ve never met a 60 yr. old smoker with a healthy mouth. The 3rd enemy is US. Somehow, we think that everything around us is replaceable if it breaks. I call it the “VCR Syndrome”. NOBODY performs any maintenance on a VCR and it’s just the accepted norm that when it breaks, you chunk it and get a new one. Somehow, this mentality has been ingrained into our belief system about our health. Lose an eye—get a glass one—no one will be the wiser. Clog your heart arteries—get them reamed out or better yet, have permanent expandable stints put in so you can continue to eat French fries. Ruin your heart—get on the transplant list (good luck on that one). Yesterday, it was announced that the FDA had approved the first fully implantable artificial heart. US residents spend more per capita for health care than any other country and sadly rank about 50th on the list of healthy adults. THERE IS NO MANMADE DEVICE THAT WILL EVER REPLACE THE MANUFACTURERS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT!! Anything we dentists do is inferior to what you started out with and will require constant maintenance and replacement. We spend thousands of dollars on vehicles and their maintenance and think nothing about replacing them every 5 years, but our teeth don’t get the same respect. You just can’t chew your food with a 2007 Lexus. In dentistry, we have a saying: “The more you need a dentist, the more you’re going to need a dentist”. Your question also reveals some insight into this thinking. You’re dissatisfied with inferior product you received at the clinic that “maximized profits” by cutting costs. So, if you were involved in an accident and severed your arm severely, would you ask the EMS paramedic to take you to the cheapest clinic with the cheapest doctor? Would you buy a Rolex from a guy on the street for $5.00? Of course, do your homework. One of the most competent world authorities (Dr. Hilt Tatum) in mouth reconstruction is in your local phone book. This man teaches the teachers from dental schools worldwide. He may have retired by now (I think he has a son that is also a dentist), but his legacy lives on in the clinic he established in St. Petersburg. Yes, check out your pocketbook. But if you want to live longer with a higher quality of life, your investment now will be a LOT less expensive in the long run. Most dentist will devise a treatment plan that can minimize the impact on your finances and spread the cost out over several years and still restore the comfort and functionality (and your overall health) of your mouth. If you are a smoker and don’t plan to quit—don’t waste your money on your mouth. If you can’t stand a change in eating habits and don’t see the value in having a pain-free healthy mouth that will allow you to live longer and happier for less money than you’ve already spent—don’t bother yourself with decisions about your mouth—take a cruise. Good luck and one parting reminder: “It’s advisable to not look for bargains in parachutes, brain surgeons, and dentists”.

James L. Dunn III DDS