Several months ago (6-7?), I started experiencing a sharp, aching pain on the lower left side of my mouth. It was so bad that a sympathy pain had started on the top of the same side. I self-treated with Orajel for a few days before going to a dentist who told me I had simple gum inflamation and prescribed antibiotics. He said the pain would go away, and it did, sort of--at least it wasn't crippling agony anymore.

So fast-forward to two days ago. I was eating lunch and felt like I had something stuck between my teeth. Upon going to the bathroom to floss it out, a chunk of my tooth fell out! I don't have dental insurance, and I've been looking for a job for the past two months. I freaked and called my mom, but she didn't have any advice. Then this afternoon, I felt another part of the tooth loosen and fall out! Now instead of only a chip gone, it's 1/3! I've been covering it with gauze until I can talk to a dentist about what I can do, but I'm very freaked out. Any advice?
As I've said, I'm both uninsured and unemployed. I can beg off a little bit of money from my parents/grandparents, but nowhere near enough for a full root canal+crown (and even asking would make me feel terrible). I live in the Chicagoland area (Illinois, US, of course), if that helps/matters.

There's not much pain--less, actually, than when the tooth was only cracked--but the whole situation scares me to death (first real issue as an "adult"), and I really really really don't want a gold crown (even though it's the more affordable option, I'm just vain enough that it really bothers me as an option).

Talk to your dentist. Explain your situation. I know my dentist is super cool and she would make arrangements with me to pay it off at some point. Talk to the billing people at your dentist office. Ask if you can make very small monthly payments to start, meanwhile, look for a job where you can pay more and more each month.

I wouldn't put it off though. And I wouldn't get the tooth pulled in order to deal with it later. If you need a root canal and a crown now, do it.

Or, get a 0% interest credit card, charge it on that, have your parents help with small payments to start.

Most dentists will do work and bill you if it's an emergency. Do that and get a job to pay the bill. If you and your parents arent wealthy (by government standards) then apply for medicaid if your state has it.

Ask your dentist about payment plans. Many dentists are starting to offer payment plans such as "Care Credit". If you have good credit this is an excellent option. At most offices that I've worked at, the first 18 months are INTEREST FREE. Which means you would be able to get the work that you need done before the situation gets worse and have a year and a half to pay it off with no interest. Waiting can be bad; the tooth can get to the point where it is unsaveable and needs to be extracted/pulled leaving a space which can cause other teeth to drift and lessen your chewing ability. You said you have no dental insurance so it won't matter too much what office you go to. Ask your current dentist first about Care Credit or another payment plan but if they can't help you, shop around. If you find an office that can offer you a better payment option, you can have your x-rays and other info sent from your current dentist. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Check with your local public health center.

You could join the military which has free health and dental care.

But then you may have to go fight
g.w bush's war.

And the republican party is against national health care.

Good Luck!