Grants for Dentures – Dental care, in general, is expensive. When you have a damaged tooth, you may have to get a tooth extraction. One of the most common solutions for a lost tooth is to have a denture. Dentures and all of the required procedures cost a lot and having grants for dentures could be a great solution for many people.
A lost tooth should be replaced for various reasons. Perhaps one of the most obvious reasons is that a lost tooth can disturb the smile, which is one of your greatest assets. It is common that someone with lost teeth also has decreased self-esteem. This low self-esteem may influence your life, from social to professional interactions.
State Grants for Dentures
Do Grants For Dentures Exist?
1. The Children’s Health Insurance Program
The Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is funded by the Federal Grant, can cover dental procedures (including dentures) for children less than 19 years of age. If your children need to have a denture and are below 19 years of age, this is a great option.
2. Medicaid
Medicaid is a government program aims to provide general health care coverage, which also includes dental procedures. However, there’s a limitation when it comes to grants for dentures. Recent changes in the policy have made the Medicaid only offer full coverage for children up to 19 years of age who come from needy families.
This means that Medicaid has limited support for people over 19 years old. In terms of dental coverage, the only support from Medicaid is tooth extraction. Other procedures including dentures are not covered. However, remember that in some cases tooth extraction is required prior to the denture’s placement. The Medicaid can at least lessen the financial burden.
3. National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (NFDH) Programs
Senior citizens and people with disabilities can take advantage from the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (NFDH) programs, which involve volunteer dentists’ effort and dental laboratories corporate social services. These programs are often free or low-cost dental health care services for senior citizens and people with disabilities.
4. Low-Cost or Free Clinics
In fact, there are some dental clinics that provide free or low-cost services in many states. If you have no idea, you can use a few websites below to find the types of clinics near your area:
5. Visit Your Local Hospital
Sometimes, you can check out the dental clinics in your local hospitals. It seems great to call your local hospital and ask for this service. If they have the dental clinic, ask them about their services and offers.
6. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
FQHCs is also known as the Primary Health Care Service Delivery Sites. They offer health care facilities and they are available in regions to serve medical help. Sometimes, they also offer dental services, too.
7. Community Health Centers
There are plenty of CHCs throughout the country and they provide free or low-cost dental care. They offer affordable dental care since they got the fund from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Dental Health Care Programs For American Adults
American adults are assumed to be productive people, hence there is almost no free financial aid support specifically made for dentures procedures. This means that you have several options in getting the dentures; first is to sign up for dental insurance, second is to sign up for the dental discount plan, and lastly, you can go to clinics that offer cheaper rates.
8. Dental School Clinics
We often recommend dental school clinics. You will be handled by dental school senior students, under faculty dentist supervision. You may have to be a little patient though because in general, the service duration is longer than conventional dental clinics.
9. Program of All-Inclusive Care For The Elderly (PACE)
PACE is a program that offers affordable dentures especially for seniors who need the care of a nursing home. Some states provide this program including Medicaid and Medicaid dental plans.
10. Donated Dental Service Programs
DDS Program provides free and comprehensive dental support especially for people with disabilities, seniors, and those who cannot afford dental care as they need. The founder of the program is the volunteer network of dentists. They also work with dental labs all over the U.S. Nevertheless, the program is not available in all states in the U.S. Therefore, you have to check first.
11. Domestic Violence Give Back A Smile Program
The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry can be your next option when it comes to grants for dentures. The program provides free restorative dental care. The target is people with damaged teeth because of criminal domestic violence. Nevertheless, you should check out the eligibility.
12. Mouthglove Free Dentures Program (For Organ Recipients or Donors)
Have you received a donated organ? Or, have you donated an organ? If so, we think you may qualify for this program. Mouthglove Dentures is for those who have given or received any organ for the life-saving surgery, not for those who have donated an organ post-mortem.
Besides, it is important to note that the help can be limited. It is because the program provides the single donation of the lower and upper set of the dentures in each month. In addition, the program needs your permission to use your story because they need it for the press releases.
13. The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics
The organization is an alternative to find affordable dental care. If you are under medical treatment, you can take this program. Their vision is that good healthcare is the right, not the privilege. Therefore, they provide grants for dentures for those with no insurance. This program is also for you if you lack access to get the proper care.
The interesting point of this program is that they have up to 1,200 clinics around the country. What you should do is to visit their website and check out the nearest clinic.
14. Cosmetic Dentistry Grants Program
CDG perhaps is not the program to get grants for dentures, but they can help you if it is all about the cost of dental implants. The program is from The Oral Aesthetic Advocacy Group. This is a private organization with the fund collected from the participating dental practices. Furthermore, they believe that each person, of course, has the right to get a healthy smile.
Well, this is a non-profit program because the participating volunteer dentists have to pay the fee for each patient in the program. Therefore, the organization can use the fee to pay the procedures for the dental implant. Besides, they use the money to run the advocacy program, organize the marketing campaigns and pay the people who run their program.
15. Samuel Harris Fund
Samuel Harris Fund provides money to any organization that can help mothers along with caregivers to support their oral health. Thankfully, they give each grant for more than $5,000.
16. The ADA Foundation’ Access To Care
Lastly, you can try to join Access To Care. In fact, they hand out grants for dentures per year to any programs and organizations that provide dental services to various communities. For example, the Senior American Access to Care Grant offers dental care for the underserved senior Americans from 62 years old of age and above.
The project also supports organizations with the goal to improve oral health access and support the communities out of the states.
Things To Do If You Cannot Get Grants for Dentures
What can you do if you cannot get the grants for dentures? We have some solutions that we hope can help you:
1. Try Loans
It is good to apply for a personal loan. The loan will help you to cover the cost of the dental implants. Even though you have to pay high interest, it does not a big deal because you can fix your smile immediately. This way will make you feel comfortable and work hard to pay for your implants.
Furthermore, it is possible to use the loan as your supplemental payment. If the insurance pays for some of the cost and you get the grant that helps you out, you only have to pay off the rest of the cost with the loan.
2. Get Supplemental Dental Insurance
Get supplemental dental insurance that will make you able to cover the dental implants cost. In fact, there are many traditional dental insurance plans available. They provide some categories for the implants. The supplemental insurance plan makes you able to pay your claim within 24 hours.
If you don’t have some kind of dental care coverage but you need the dentures as fast as possible, we recommend you to go with a dental discount plan.
References:
- Free Dentures
- Images: deltadentalcoblog.com, faverodental.com
