dental financing?

i haven't been to a dentist in more than 5 years, so i'm not really sure how any of this works. i know i'm going to need lots of work done. i have 2 teeth that are killing me, so i've gotta go soon. i just got dental insurance at the start of this year, but everything is still VERY expensive, compared to what i make. also, i can't understand what anything means on my benefits list, since it's all in dental terms, but that's a diff question altogether. so what i really want to know is, if i have to have all kinds of work done, are they going to want payment the day i get it done, or do most dentists let you do payments? is there financing? if so, is it hard to get approved? does the work need to come to over a certain amount? i've been putting off going, cause i'm afraid they're going to tell me i need to pay them like a thousand dollars, and i don't have that in the bank. thanks!!!
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I don't know if he's unique but my dentist allows his patients to make payments. I was in a situation similar to your's some time ago. I discussed it with him and he was good enough to allow me to make payments based on MY budget. Have you tried that? Discuss it with your dentist or the person in charge of billing and maybe they'll let you make payments based on your budget. For the first visit, you'll probably have to make a co-payment (standard insurance procedure), but it won't be "a thousand dollars". If you're unclear about your benefits, ask your dentist or the person in his/her office in charge of billing; they'll explain how everything works. I haven't heard of this CareCredit, so I can't comment on it. My dentist just sends out monthly bills until you're paid in full.
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