ADD/ADHD/Dental recommendations near Chapel Hill or Carrboro?

February 1, 2012 6:21 PM

ADD/ADHD/Dental recommendations near Chapel Hill or Carrboro? (more inside)

I am finally in a situation where I can start attending to my long-neglected health needs now that I have decent health insurance and a steady stipend from grad school. I am on the RA/TA NC Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, with no dental included. Where would you recommend I go for a psychological evaluation for ADD/ADHD? Is there anything I should be wary of? Also, where would you recommend I take my teeth for cleaning after something like five years of no dental visits whatsoever? Any other advice? Throwaway email address is [e-mail]

Thanks for any help in advance!

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

ADD and grad school suck. I speak from experience. PM me. I'm in your area (Durham).
posted by outlandishmarxist at 6:54 PM on February 1, 2012

I'm from that area and would recommend a dentist but mine died last year, so...let me tell you about the Sonicare tooth brush. It is fantastic - I recommend it to anyone who is uninsured. I think they've come way down in price, but I would pay the $100 again - I've had it for several years and am sure it has paid for itself. The brush heads run about $30/year. I change 2-3 times/year.

I haven't been to the dentist in about 5 years either.

You might look into whether or not your university has a dentist in the student health center. I'm not in NC but mine does. Or maybe UNC dental school? Uni mental health services should be able to help you with the ADD/ADHD too.
posted by fromageball at 7:15 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I would suggest starting with the UNC Dental School. If you get seen by a student it will be relatively cheap.
posted by needled at 7:22 PM on February 1, 2012

I'm in CH as well. For ADD, I'd suggest starting at campus health--counseling and wellness. you could call them and tell them that's what you're looking for...they do offer psychiatric evaluations/medication management. also, i once asked my regular doctor about ADD and he had a basic sort of evaluation rubric, so it's also possible that you could just see a regular doctor at student health, rather than someone in counseling & wellness.

and i'd second the suggestion about the dental school. http://www.dentistry.unc.edu/patient/studentclinics/faq.cfm

don't know what your financial situation is but i noticed the other day that pearce & pearce (the company that provides the mandatory insurance for undergrads) offers dental plans and it didn't seem outrageously expensive, might be worth looking into.
posted by iahtl at 7:38 PM on February 1, 2012

Diane Hourigan in Chapel Hill. She is a wonderful dentist! I went to her a few years ago in a similar situation (hadn't been to the dentist in 5 years). I paid cash, and it wasn't too expensive for the amount of fillings I had to have done. She's not my dentist anymore, only because I moved out of state.
posted by under satellites at 9:20 PM on February 1, 2012

Dinah Vice and Esther Hansen have Sunrise Dental offices in Durham and Chapel Hill. They were very sweet and non-judgmental when I came to their office after 4+ years of no dental care. Your first check-up/consult/X-rays are free, you only pay for the cleaning.
posted by heyheylanagirl at 5:51 AM on February 2, 2012

I can recommend Joel and Andrew Wagoner in Chapel Hill for dentistry. I've had friends who have gone to the dental school when money was tight, and said it was just fine. Good luck!
posted by Shoggoth at 6:17 AM on February 2, 2012

Like you, I came to Chapel Hill, decided I needed to deal with years of teeth neglect, and went to Dr. Stephen Pieroni. He got braces glue off my teeth that had been there for ~10 years, that my previous dentists had missed. Plus, he's just a really nice guy. I recommend him highly.
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 7:18 AM on February 2, 2012

Looks like you already have plenty of recommendations for dentists, but I'll add that I go to Dr. Stephen Randall in Carrboro and have been really pleased. He's done good work for me, and he was very upfront about helping me decide whether I wanted to get some work done that was optional/could be put off for awhile. Can't help on the ADD/ADHD recommendations, sorry.

The Pearce & Pearce dental insurance is probably worth it if you suspect you'll have a cavity or two, which after 5 years you might.
posted by aka burlap at 5:14 PM on February 2, 2012