topic Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial) in Credit Card Applications

Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 09:56:36 GMT

Hi, so I made some mistakes in my early 20s and took part in a state funded vacation for the last ~7 years and have started to re-build my credit. I just hit the 6 month mark two days ago and saw my first Experian score on Experian's site. My Experian is 709, Equifax 699, and TransUnion 698. My file is paper thin. I have a $500 Self Credit Builder loan, a $175 Self secured card, and a $300 Discover secured card. My oldest account (the Self loan) is just 6 months old. I tried around November 2022 to get a CareCredit card to help with dental work once I noticed some improvement on WalletHub's score (over 70+ points from when I started), but I did not pass the pre-approval. I tried again but was told I had applied too recently. Does anybody have advice for an unsecured card that I might be able to qualify for to help with the dental work? It was quoted at about $1900, but if I can't get a card yet/you'd recommend I wait, I'm open to hearing any advice. As for inquiries, EX 2, TU - 0, EQ -1.

Thanks for any help.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

Hoben02 — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 14:58:53 GMT

Is there a dental school where you are. For the last few years I have no dental insurance and have been visiting univ of so cal dental school for dental work and it's a fraction of what a dentist would cost. The treatment is done by sometimes practitioners that want advanced degrees to students who are about to graduate

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:45:21 GMT

How funny, I was considering that very option. My brother went there for his undergrad and suggested I check out the school's sub-reddit. When I asked, they seemed to all say that there can be lengthy wait times depending on the procedure and I need some pretty major restorative work, so I'm not sure I want to wait too much longer as I feel so embarrassed to talk much let alone smile/laugh. I do have insurance though and found a dentist I like (oddly enough, he's an alum of USC's dental school). I paid $440 for two extractions and bone grafts and $623 for 8 more extractions including a wisdom tooth. It's the next procedure that I was really hoping to get CareCredit for. It was quoted at $1900 for the dental bridge work. The front desk receptionist realllly tried to push CareCredit during my first visit, but I had basically nothing on my credit report at the time and I knew I wouldn't qualify, so I declined to try. That is what prompted me to start rebuilding though. I was just curious if I might be able to try for a "real" card yet that could ease the cost of the next set of work.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

RedKhaos — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 08:23:47 GMT

I'm guessing Discover is out since you already got their secured card recently. You can check CapitalOne's online preapproval form to see if you qualify for their Quicksilver or SavorOne, which normally have intro 0% APR period. These two are fairly friendly to new credit folks.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 20:39:18 GMT

I did barely get my second statement from Discover so I thought it would be too soon as well to try for an unsecured card with them. I tried out the Capital One preapproval and it just recommended two different secured cards. Does that mean it's likely too early to try? Discover doesn't even seem to have my FICO score thing yet unlike the Experian site (Discover's credit tracker says it's too early for any FICO scores to have been generated). Do you think it would be best to wait a bit longer? And is the Capital One thing generally pretty reliable (like if I check again in a month or so and see unsecured cards, does that mean the odds are decent I might qualify?)

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

RedKhaos — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 21:07:09 GMT

Standard disclaimer about pre-approval=/=guaranteed approval aside, I'd consider CapitalOne's preapproval tool to be as reliable as you can hope for in this business.

When do you need to do/pay for the dental work? You can always YOLO apply for some 0% APR prime cards, but I'd consider your chances of success to be poor right now if CapitalOne won't give you their unsecured QuickSilver. It's better to wait and check every month for when offers for those cards pop up.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

OmarGB9 — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:39:21 GMT

May just want to look into a personal loan for the dental work, as prime cards/good cards with an intro 0% APR/BT APR will probably be out of reach right now.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 23:36:18 GMT

I needed about $900-$1000 for the dental work. I can probably just wait for the Capital One to pop up/try to save up for the rest myself. They took 10 of my teeth and I'll need implants down the line (so hopefully I can get CareCredit at some point in the future), but I really just wanted to focus on getting the bridge for $1900. You know the song "All I want for Chirstmas is My Two Front Teeth"? I need my four front teeth and really don't like smiling/laughing right now because of it, hah. I wish I hadn't been so trigger happy to try for CareCredit just 4 months into my rebuilding journey. Thanks again, I'll just keep checking the Captial One page every 3 weeks or so to see if that Quicksilver pops up.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

Steeled — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 02:50:09 GMT

Personal loans will be completely out of the question. The underwriting on a personal loan, with a thin file, is going to immediately reject it.

I was in a similar spot and as soon as I had a FICO score, I got approved for a $6k Discover, which would've been my suggestion if you didn't already have the ol secured version.

The GM card by Goldman is kind of a useless card for rewards, but it has an intro APR period and the whole soft pull and limit before you accept deal. I can also tell you that from my experience, Goldman might not give approvals until you have an unsecured, 'higher' limit card, but it's worth a free shot

@OmarGB9 wrote:
May just want to look into a personal loan for the dental work, as prime cards/good cards with an intro 0% APR/BT APR will probably be out of reach right now.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 06:55:46 GMT

Yeah, it seems like you were 100% right that they want to see higher limits. I tried and it says stuff like "low credit limit and insufficient payment history" and "amount of secured installment credit is lower than required"

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:01:32 GMT

I applied for a PayPal World Mastercard as it said it would not impact my score if I checked. I was approved for 2K. I then waited a few weeks and checked out the CareCred pre-qualify tool and I tried various amounts, 5K, 7K, and 9K as the estiamted procedure cost. It finally seemed to cap at 7.3K - I was toying around with the procedure amount every other day to see if the pre-qualified number actually meant anything. Do you think I should go for the CareCredit or might I actually be able to get an okay-decent card elsewhere? I'd rather not waste the hard inquiry on CareCredit if I might be able to get a better card elsewhere and just see if they grow. That was my mistake the first time around when I had good credit. I kept applying for cards like crazy in a short amount of time until I started to get toy limits like $150 at American Eagle.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

TRC_WA — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:12:32 GMT

@barsandrhyme

The Care Credit prequal tool you are using by typing in procedure costs shouldn't be a HP unless you accept the offer.

'It's how I got my $8k card. The only mistake I made was not asking for 12.

As for the dental work... implants are all good till you get infections. I've heard good and bad about it. I'm 48 and decided to go with premium dentures for $7500. They are premium in a sense that people don't know they aren't my real teeth unless I tell them.

Good luck.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

barsandrhyme — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:03:55 GMT

Yes, that's exactly why I kept trying every other day to see if the pre-qualified amount meant anything or if it was just randomly saying I was pre-qualified. It did seem to top out at 7,300. I was just curious if I should just go for the CareCredit or if it would be possible to get something else with a decent limit instead.

Thanks, I'm definitely super nervous - I go in tomorrow for the bridge poriton. The dentist did initially suggest a dental plate/denture or something instead, but I wanted to try the implant-bridge option. I know the bridge could fail and she expressed concerned that one needs amazing dental hyegine to make a bridge last, so if it does end up failing, dentures it is. The office actually wound up offering a nice 4 month payment plan. I was able to cover the first payment, but definitely wanted to see if I could still get the CareCredit or other decent limit card to help out with the other payments and other work that I will eventually need. I know my file is still very thin, so I'm leaning toward the CareCredit since I don't think I'd get a similar limit with say Capital One (especially since their pre-approval page still keeps recommending secured cards).

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

TRC_WA — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:06:04 GMT

I'd recommend Care Credit. You'll get a 0% payment plan on the procedure too.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

MarkintheHV — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:08 GMT

Don't laugh, but if you live close to the border, go over into Mexico. My mom and the rest of her senior buddies get all their dental work done in Mexico. It is significantly cheaper.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

DONZI — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 10:12:21 GMT

@barsandrhyme wrote:
I applied for a PayPal World Mastercard as it said it would not impact my score if I checked. I was approved for 2K.
...
Do you think I should go for the CareCredit or might I actually be able to get an okay-decent card elsewhere? I'd rather not waste the hard inquiry on CareCredit if I might be able to get a better card elsewhere and just see if they grow.

The paypal mastercard is a decent card. If you can get what you mentioned above, seems like a good move. Probably better to go with the financing with the dentist though instead of jacking the utilization of the card(s) up.

Re: Advice for thin file to get card to help with dental work (CareCredit denial)

Anonymous514 — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 07:17:34 GMT

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