In America, if you go to the ER for any other serious issue, they’re legally required to treat you regardless of your insurance or ability to pay.
If you’re having dental problems, even potentially fatal ones, nothing like that exists for dentists.
(and if you go to the ER for a dental problem, the chances of them having any dentists is a percent of a percent, so the best they can do is give you painkillers).
Only some states that provide Medicaid include dental with it, and even the ones that do, dentists are legally allowed to limit the amount of, or even straight-up refuse Medicaid patients. Which is something that many have to do, because the government doesn’t pay enough for them to actually make any money.
And that’s a bigger deal for dentists than any other type of doctor, because unlike, say, gastroenterologist, who usually works inside a larger, established institution, a dentist is usually forced to run their own private practice. Which means they’re harboring 100% of the cost for rent/mortgage, equipment, staff, etc. Could you imagine a world where cardiologists had to take out loans for their equipment?
Anyway, if you don’t have the money, what ends up happening is that you have to wait for the decay and infection to spread outside of your mouth. THEN the ER can help you.
But regardless of our modern diets, it’s all 100% preventable.
