Do you live near a university with a dental program? You can usually get cheap work done by student dentists, but there is a longer wait for appointments (UBC has such a program : https://www.dentistry.ubc.ca/treatment/how-to-become-a-patient/).

Not sure if you're in the lower mainland area or not. It might be worth checking out what's available to you in your region.

For those unable to afford dental work, I would recommend beginning Dr. Ellie's tooth maintainence protocol, which after reading multiple pubmed studies, I was able to confirm the legitimacy of.

Her protocol consists of:

1. starting with a Closys sensitive mouth rinse, which in studies is as effective as Chlorhexidine, a potent prescription only mouth rinse, but without the negative side effects from long-term use. This step ensures the mouth is at the correct pH before brushing, and effectively penetrates the biofilm of caries causing bacteria between the teeth, where the brush can't reach.
2. Brush with a low abrasive toothbrush (soft bristle) and low abrasive, non-whitening toothpaste. I personally recommend standard Colgate Total, since it uses the more advanced Stannus Flouride, which is more resistant to acids compared to standard sodium flouride, but if on a tight budget, standard crest works too.
3. Rinse with a standard antiseptic rinse (Listerine original or equivalent off-brand). This step must be done after brushing, as Listerine is mildly acidic (which would make your enamel soft enough for your brush to wear it away), and Listerine is much more effective after the bacteria colonies have been broken up by physical agitation first.
4. Finish with a standard ACT flouride rinse or off-brand (tge smaller bottles usually gave a higher concentration of flouride). Flouride is actually most effective at binding to the teeth in an acidic environment, so doing it after Listerine is synergistic. It also is alkaline, countering the low pH of the Listerine. Lastly, it has its own unique antibacterial, cetylpyridinium chloride, that further kills caries causing bacteria.

The end result of that protocol is an insane reduction in caries causing bacteria that completely eliminates the ability for plaque to form for around 8 to 12 hours. If you do the protocol twice a day, you will likely never have another cavity for the rest of your life, unless an existing filling fails.

Taking a pinch of xylitol sugar between brushings, like after meals, can further deprive caries causing bacteria from growing, as it will ingest xylitol, but ultimately cannot use it for fuel, causing it to die.

I've been using this protocol personally for 2 years, and can confirm that I no longer have plaque buildup on my teeth, and as a side-effect of the closys and Listerine, no longer have bad-breath, even in the morning.

It also can potentially stop existing cavities from progressing, but only if they haven't breached the enamel yet.

If a cavity is already in the soft dentin, this protocol may slow it or mildly ease the pain, but it won't resolve the cavity.

I'm in this image and I don't like it

Me too but only because I have ADHD. Dental work is basically free here.

The federal plan covers cleaning, it doesn't "barely cover shit". Scaling is covered pretty much up to what most providers charge from what I've heard.

If your dentist is gouging you, find a new dentist. Many universities have low cost dental care on campus for students, but it's often accessible to the general public too.

Oh hey! I’ve had to chew on the left side for over 6 years now because the right side has a crack that randomly shoots pain into my head. My dentist is hilarious though, he put in the request for a crown to my insurance and it came back that it wasn’t “bad enough” to be covered, and in his words “apparently you’re not in enough pain to fix this so they want to wait until it’s truly agonizing to cover it”. With a big sigh at the end. So they’re going to try fixing it as a filling and see if they can seal it up. I really appreciate him, he’s a good guy.

100%

My plan to correct my bite is to wait for it to get so bad that I'm willing to have an "accident" where my teeth get knocked out and maybe my insurance will cover some of the repair.

Meanwhile the rest of the healthcare system can bear the burden of my many other health complications because I can't fucking chew properly.

What a system!