Everyone needs dental care, but it can be difficult to find good dentists without breaking the bank. Thankfully, there are a couple of tips you can use to find good dental care at a fraction of the cost of a private practitioner.

Dental Schools

If you live near a dental school, then it is highly recommended that you check it out to see if they are offering their services. In many cases, you can pay a drastically reduced price to get work done by dental students. Don't worry, these aren't total novices and they will likely be overseen by a professional during the procedures. On top of that, you can also take pride in the fact that your mouth was used to educate the dentists of tomorrow.

Clinics

If you live in a low income area, then you might be able to get service at a local dental clinic. The downside is that wait times are generally pretty long, but the costs are incredibly low to make up for it. Sometimes, clinics will ask to see documentation proving that you live in the area or that you are under an income threshold, since such clinics are meant to provide services to the poorer communities. If you do qualify, then you will pay a lot less at a clinic than you might at a private practice.

Charity Drives

You might also get lucky and have a local dental charity drive in your area, offering dental services at a massive discount or even entirely free. Again, wait times might be pretty long and you have to deal with the fact that the charity might be gone in a few weeks, but if you see one in your area, you should take advantage of it. You can save a trip to the dentist by getting a cheap checkup and cleaning at such a location.

If possible, you should also check around to see if there are any upcoming charity drives. This can help you plan accordingly and determine whether you need to look for alternatives in the near future.

Clinical Tests and Trials

Finally, if you aren't too terrified of the unknown, you might want to get involved in some clinical trials for dental products. Some whitening products, toothpastes, anesthetics, or other such dental products need testing all the time and can even pay you to participate in trials. The downside is that you have to report on its effects and that it might not work very well, but it won't come at much cost to you.

To learn more, contact a family dentist office like West Lakes Family Dentistry.