Are you wondering how to get free dental implants? You’ll have to do some real investigating around your local health centers, but they do exist.
There are actually a variety of ways to get free implants, including clinical trials, charities, grants, and dental schools.
It can be a bit tricky to chase down exactly what you’re looking for, which is why we’re here to help! In this article, you’ll find out how to get free dental implants including:
So if you’re ready to find out how you can find free dental implants, or at least pay less, keep reading to learn about your options.
How to find free dental implants for low-income
Where can you find free dental implants? Keep reading as we take you through some of the primary programs and strategies for finding implants you can afford.
Free dental implant programs
Dental Lifeline Network
The Dental Lifeline Network provides access to comprehensive dental care nationally. Their patients include:
DDS involves a national network that includes 15,000 volunteer dentists and 3,700 volunteer laboratories. This program provides free comprehensive treatment including dental implants. Each state has a DDS program, and they make it easy to find a participating dentist in your state on this page.
States have different guidelines for who can qualify for these dentistry services, but in general, the qualifications include those mentioned above, combined with a lack of adequate income to pay for the dental care you need.
Local Community Health Centers
Health centers are based in communities and directed by patients, delivering comprehensive and high-quality health care services.
They often try to provide integrative care, with pharmacies, and mental and oral health for those who can’t access it based on income, lack of citizenship, homelessness, being an underinsured vet, mental illness, etc.
Fundamentals of health centers according to the Health Resources & Services Administration include:
- Deliver high quality and culturally competent primary care
- Provide services despite the ability of the patients to pay
- Patient majority governing boards
- Patient-centered care, with a focus on underserved populations
- Meet certain administrative clinical and financial requirements
Dental schools
If there aren’t any free dental implant programs near you, consider dental schools. Dental schools that offer free dental implants are another great option for not just implants but all sorts of free dental work.
Dental schools and dentist training programs often offer free services so that their students can gain experience performing procedures on real patients before becoming a licensed dentist. All states have dental schools that offer a wide range of treatment including the implant procedure
Depending on the programs in your state, you may or may not be able to receive free dental implants, but it’s likely that you can find Cheap Denture Near me for a significantly reduced cost.
Have a look at this list of schools provided by the American Student Dental Association. These schools may provide pro-bono dentistry as part of their community outreach services.
The following video shows how students at the University of Chicago in the dentistry program provide free care for the homeless.
For veterans
The VA does provide dental benefits including implants to some veterans, so if you are a vet, you should definitely go to their website to find out if you qualify. However, due to their strict eligibility rules, many veterans are not eligible for dental coverage from the VA. The eligibility criteria include:
- Having a service-connected dental disability or condition for which you receive monthly compensation
- Being a former POW
- Having one or more service-connect disabilities rated 100% disabling
- Are unemployable and receive disability compensation at the 100% disabling rate, because of service-related conditions
- Having served on active duty for 90 days or more during the Persian Gulf War
There are a few more criteria that might make you eligible. You can have a look at the rest at the VA’s website.
We mentioned DDS above in programs for free implants. Donated dental services (DDS) is a part of the Dental Lifeline Network, and one of their goals is to help veterans get the dental work that they need.
Free dental implants from clinical trials
These trials are research studies conducted in order to find new treatment, see if new drugs work and try out new medical devices, and mostly, to make sure that treatment is safe and effective.
All trials in the US must be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It may sound scary to participate in a clinical trial for implants, but keep in mind that the main concern during the trial is the patients’ safety, because if something goes wrong, the company conducting the trial could get into some serious trouble.
If you need free dental implants, you may want to consider participating in a clinical trial. If this interests you, a good place to start looking is with the Nation Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).
They often have free dental treatment, including the procedure for implants for the duration of a study that they are conducting. To find out if there are any trials looking for volunteers for implants, head to their website and have a look now.
Free dental implants for seniors
If you are over 55 and need free dental implants, one option you can look into is the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). This is a home and community-based program that helps older adults who are eligible for nursing home care continue living in their communities.
As part of this effort, PACE may also help pay for services, like implants, that Medicaid and Medicare don’t cover in your state or under your plan. You can find out if there is a PACE program in your state by visiting their website.
Medicaid
If your income level is under the Federal Poverty Level, then you are eligible for Medicaid. However, not all states provide dental coverage. So you’ll have to check what the Medicaid benefits cover in your state.
However, if you think you might be eligible, this is a program that you should definitely be enrolled in. To find out more, you can read our full guide to Medicaid dental coverage.
Philanthropists
If you’re having trouble finding implants you can afford, stay alert for programs funded by wealthy do-gooders, or clinics offering temporary free care to their communities. One example of this is the creator of Malcolm in the Middle, who now runs a free mobile dental and vision clinic in California.
Or take this implant center in Austin, Texas, offering a 20% discount on implants to help patients financially impacted by COVID-19.
Other ways to save
Have you checked all of the options mentioned above?
- Looking for free dental implant programs
- Visiting your Community Health Center
- Finding a local dentistry school
- Participating in a clinical trial
- Checking your veteran eligibility
- Checking your eligibility for PACE
- Consider All-on-4 implants or G4 by Golpa for full-mouth implants
- Cosmetic dentistry grants — read more about grants for dentistry in our full article here
If you have, and you simply can’t find resources for free dental implants near you, don’t worry, you aren’t out of options yet. You may be able to save money on dental implants with dental financing options,