Question:
I am in dire need of a dentist, perhaps an ondodontist. Problem is:
1) I have no dental insurance
2) I am a student
That combination is almost as painful as my molar right now.
Does anyone know a cheap yet competent dentist that they can refer me to?
Answer:
I heard that if you can get there UCSF dental school is reasonable especially
with students
(sucks to go to a school with no dental plan, eh?)
I think that UCSF, and UCB, offer very cheap dental work if you are willing
to let dentristry students, err, "train" on you.
And these people are supervised by competent people, and have taken
lots of training before they touch a patient. This is not getting
your hair cut by a beauty school here.
I wonder if the original poster was thinking about Berkeley's optometry
school? I got glasses and contacts there recently, and it was not only
the cheapest experience I've had with corrective lenses, but by far the
best. (I believe I got some discount because I'm a Berkeley student,
but I think that even without that, the price would have been excellent.)
Both the students and instructors were patient, answered all of my
questions, and seemed to want to make sure I got the best results
instead of rushing me out the door.
I'm wearing Berkeley glasses right now. Their prices are reasonable for
the kind of style that I am wearing, but I've seen cheaper, especially
back home in Southern California among the Asian opticians that I am
familiar with. They didn't seem to pressure you too much, although
I got a visual field test that my optometrist back home said I
didn't need. It cost me $70 or so, which I thought was kind of overpriced.
Oh well.
