It's hard not give up. I don't have any advice that will help you. But please don't give up.

I think I know how you feel. You're still a long ways from the cost of dentures, too. I hope you can find some help. Being with tooth pain every day is enough to make anyone give up hope. I'm sorry, reading over this site is making depressed. So many people in so much pain because of money. I hope you can get the help you need. I'm sorry.

I haven't found any help with my dental problems, either. It's genuinely disgusting to me that a dentist won't just pull these messed up teeth out and let us owe them money. I could tolerate paying off my teeth for the rest of my life - but I can't tolerate severe pain.

 I think it's awesome that you want to help the world by making video games. It really is a great medium to educate people. I remember the plots from some of my favorite games a lot better than any movies or books. It's just not like the old days where one person can sit down and make a video game over a few months. I hope you can find some help. 

I see it's been about two weeks since you posted this. I truly help you were able to find some help. It's like... I just want to apologize on behalf of the rest of humanity to you. I wish you could get the help you need. If you did get help please tell me what you did.

When I was 18 I had health insurance and I was able to see a dentist one last time before my coverage would run out. My dentist said I had "perfect" teeth and my wisdom teeth were going to come in soon, but it looked like I had plenty of room and nothing to worry about. About a year later, no insurance, they came in and basically killed the rest of my teeth. I've been dealing with toothaches and absesses individually since then. I've had 3 pulled since then which I had a very difficult time paying for. I had to sell gamecube and all my old games to get two pulled at a dental school. It's been a couple years now and my some of my teeth have broken off at the gum line. Every single tooth is ruined, I just want them all pulled.  I'm going crazy.

 Right now my jaw is swelling up, the source of the problem is a tooth that broke in half vertically and broke off at the gumline a year ago. It's swelling up enough that it's visible in my face, I can't sleep, I'm really afraid it's going to kill me. I already owe the local ER $500 from the last time I went in with a tooth problem. They didn't do anything for me, they prescribed me some pain pills and that was it. Said I needed to see a dentist. No kidding.

 I just don't know what I can do, I don't know that a regular dentist can help with this, I'm pretty sure I need oral surgery. I don't know how this is going to help, I kind of just feel like... if it kills me, at least I tried everything I could. Being in severe pain for so long really kind of saps your will to live, but I don't want to die, and I'm really scared. My skin along my shoulders and my back is starting to get hot and flushed, presumably from the infection being in my blood stream, it's really scary.