Pay now, or pay a LOT more later (with a lot more pain, and maybe major issues).
I’ve been there.
I had thousands of dollars of dental work done when I had no insurance and made $15/hr. Talked to the dentist, we worked out a plan to get the crucial stuff done. He didn’t want me leaving without a plan to take care things, despite OP’s implication about dentists being money grubbers.
My father owned a small business, people would sometimes complain he was “cheating them”. His answer - there’s more work than I can do in a day, I don’t need to fuck anyone to make a buck.