It’s hard to get credit these days, except when it comes to fixing your teeth. Across the country, dental credit cards are becoming more popular for those who don’t have insurance or enough money to pay for a procedure. But a growing number of critics warn the cards cause more problems than they solve.
Joseph Lopez, 75, lives in a Sacramento trailer park. Last year, his wife needed a bridge for her teeth. It had a $3,000 price tag and Lopez didn’t have dental insurance. So, he says, he got a special kind of loan.
“They told me I would not have any interest for two years,” Lopez says, but when the bill came, the treatment hadn’t been completed. And it was for $5,000 ”” $2,000 more than he agreed to.