why is the dentist so expensive!

GreenTeaDisease

I have to get a root canal and a crown next week. I have what is considered "good" dental insurance, but they only cover a maximum of $1000/year. The root canal alone costs more than that, plus I have the crown, and the diagnostic visit I had today. The dentist said if I don't get this fixed ASAP I'll be in severe pain. it's bad enough with insurance, what if I didn't have it?

People are always talking about health care for all. what about dental care!

WhiteMaleRat

double check your health care coverage, sometimes it will cover some dental. Otherwise, get a bottle of jack and wait until January.

toronado10

i'd get one done this year and wait for the other until january. $1000 dollars a year? that doesn't sound like very good insurance.

sennin

Toothbrush + toothpaste + floss + 1 cleaning every 6 months. = $0 paid out of my pocket to the dentist in the last 12 years (since I got my first job with insurance)....and he keeps supplying me with toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss!!

Most dental insurance will pay 100% on preventive procedures. But if you neglect your teeth and they have to do major $$ procedures.....it will cost you!

TrixieCat

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

I have to get a root canal and a crown next week. I have what is considered "good" dental insurance, but they only cover a maximum of $1000/year. The root canal alone costs more than that, plus I have the crown, and the diagnostic visit I had today. The dentist said if I don't get this fixed ASAP I'll be in severe pain. it's bad enough with insurance, what if I didn't have it?

People are always talking about health care for all. what about dental care!

Of course the dentist is telling you to get it done right away...because they know EXACTLY how much money you have left with your insurance. Did you already use some of the 1K?
Listen, I am so suspicious of the dental practice. No offense to any dentist that may read this.
We have switched every year until now. I love the practice we are with. Not sheisty at all.

Get_Right

limiting dental coverage to 1000 or 1500 per year is one common way businesses reduce the health care costs
the other is making the life insurance benefit very small

get the root canal the last week of december, then the crown in January

or do it all in Jan and use your flex plan dollars to pay any uninsured costs

Spunkie

He costs so much because a string tied to the tooth and the fridge door sucks. Plus he has good drugs.

GreenTeaDisease

TrixieCat wrote:

Of course the dentist is telling you to get it done right away...because they know EXACTLY how much money you have left with your insurance. Did you already use some of the 1K?
Listen, I am so suspicious of the dental practice. No offense to any dentist that may read this.
We have switched every year until now. I love the practice we are with. Not sheisty at all.

I'm skeptical of dentists too. once I went to some new dentist and he told me I had to get *8* cavities filled. I have fantastic dental hygiene, so I thought that was a bit off. I only found out AFTER the fact that dentists sometimes lie about that though. This one seems ok though. And he doesn't do the root canal, he sends me to endontist, so she gets paid for that.

GreenTeaDisease

sennin wrote:

Toothbrush + toothpaste + floss + 1 cleaning every 6 months. = $0 paid out of my pocket to the dentist in the last 12 years (since I got my first job with insurance)....and he keeps supplying me with toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss!!

Most dental insurance will pay 100% on preventive procedures. But if you neglect your teeth and they have to do major $$ procedures.....it will cost you!

oh I definitely don't neglect my teeth. toothbrush, floss, and listerine every day. All my dental problems seem to stem from shoddy work a previous dentist has done on my fillings. Plus, all it takes is one little speck of bacteria to hide in some little crack...I mean this problem I have now, I don't know how it could be avoided. it's not stemming from between the teeth where flossing would help. it's actually decayed UNDER an old filling.

Flagg

He is expensive because he has to pay for his kid's Ivy League college educations, his 5000 sq ft house, his cabin in the mountains, his boat, his wine club dues, his wife's expensive tastes, his girlfiend, his timeshares and his annual tours of Europe.

I know this because my wife works with dentists (cosmetic dentists) and they all have these.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

It's like having a mouthful of gold. The alternative is extraction. I floss regularly, and use that ultra floss by oral B (if you can get it)... It's the best stuff. Your gums shouldn't bleed or be sore after flossing, or you aren't flossing enough. I also use the green Listerine as well after brushing... brushing 2X daily alone just isn't enough imo....gotta get that burn in as well. When I go to the dentist there's nothing for them to do, they just make it look good for the most part so I fell like I'm getting something for my money.

Brain of J.Lo

TrixieCat wrote:

Of course the dentist is telling you to get it done right away...because they know EXACTLY how much money you have left with your insurance. Did you already use some of the 1K?
Listen, I am so suspicious of the dental practice. No offense to any dentist that may read this.
We have switched every year until now. I love the practice we are with. Not sheisty at all.

I became skeptical of dentists a few years ago. The dentist I had gone to since childhood retired, and I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and promptly told me I had 10 cavities that needed to be filled, and urged me to make appointments to start getting them done right away. I was SHOCKED, because up to that point I had never had a single cavity. I walked over to the receptionist to make the appointments (because my head was spinning, and I was just going to make the appointments and then actually process the information...) and I said I couldn't believe I'd gotten such a bad report... And then SHE held up my x-rays and said "oh yeah, you have so many cavities. Even I can see them." The fact that the receptionist was so eager to tell me about my cavities was a red flag... I told her I was goign to wait and make the appointments later.

The next week, I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and told me they were fine. There were two or three places that looked like they could turn into cavities, but he didn't want to drill them because once you start drilling, your teeth are open to so many other problems. To this day, I only have 3 fillings in my mouth!

So...I am VERY skeptical of dentists after that. I know there are honest ones, but just like in every other profession, there are bad ones, too!

TrixieCat

Brain of J.Lo wrote:

I became skeptical of dentists a few years ago. The dentist I had gone to since childhood retired, and I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and promptly told me I had 10 cavities that needed to be filled, and urged me to make appointments to start getting them done right away. I was SHOCKED, because up to that point I had never had a single cavity. I walked over to the receptionist to make the appointments (because my head was spinning, and I was just going to make the appointments and then actually process the information...) and I said I couldn't believe I'd gotten such a bad report... And then SHE held up my x-rays and said "oh yeah, you have so many cavities. Even I can see them." The fact that the receptionist was so eager to tell me about my cavities was a red flag... I told her I was goign to wait and make the appointments later.

The next week, I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and told me they were fine. There were two or three places that looked like they could turn into cavities, but he didn't want to drill them because once you start drilling, your teeth are open to so many other problems. To this day, I only have 3 fillings in my mouth!

So...I am VERY skeptical of dentists after that. I know there are honest ones, but just like in every other profession, there are bad ones, too!

:eek: See! I am not crazy....j lo, who always keeps it real, agrees.
That fu&*er that made me have 2 filled I KNOW was lying. And to boot, they told me I needed some gum restoration work or some crap like that.
My new dentist told me my teeth are beautiful and he can tell I take good care of them.
I tell everyone I know not to go to the other place. And I told them why I didn't go back. Fu&*ers.

GreenTeaDisease

Brain of J.Lo wrote:

I became skeptical of dentists a few years ago. The dentist I had gone to since childhood retired, and I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and promptly told me I had 10 cavities that needed to be filled, and urged me to make appointments to start getting them done right away. I was SHOCKED, because up to that point I had never had a single cavity. I walked over to the receptionist to make the appointments (because my head was spinning, and I was just going to make the appointments and then actually process the information...) and I said I couldn't believe I'd gotten such a bad report... And then SHE held up my x-rays and said "oh yeah, you have so many cavities. Even I can see them." The fact that the receptionist was so eager to tell me about my cavities was a red flag... I told her I was goign to wait and make the appointments later.

The next week, I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and told me they were fine. There were two or three places that looked like they could turn into cavities, but he didn't want to drill them because once you start drilling, your teeth are open to so many other problems. To this day, I only have 3 fillings in my mouth!

So...I am VERY skeptical of dentists after that. I know there are honest ones, but just like in every other profession, there are bad ones, too!

same exact thing that happened to me. it's like a mechanic, they can tell you anything and you have to take their word for it.

GreenTeaDisease

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

It's like having a mouthful of gold. The alternative is extraction. I floss regularly, and use that ultra floss by oral B (if you can get it)... It's the best stuff. Your gums shouldn't bleed or be sore after flossing, or you aren't flossing enough. I also use the green Listerine as well after brushing... brushing 2X daily alone just isn't enough imo....gotta get that burn in as well. When I go to the dentist there's nothing for them to do, they just make it look good for the most part so I fell like I'm getting something for my money.

oh I spit a pile of blood into the sink every night, and I'm proud of it .

TrixieCat

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

oh I spit a pile of blood into the sink every night, and I'm proud of it .

:eek:
I hope you are joking.
If you are not, you do not have good dental hygiene. Sorry.
That is not supposed to be happening.

Lizard

Brain of J.Lo wrote:

I became skeptical of dentists a few years ago. The dentist I had gone to since childhood retired, and I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and promptly told me I had 10 cavities that needed to be filled, and urged me to make appointments to start getting them done right away. I was SHOCKED, because up to that point I had never had a single cavity. I walked over to the receptionist to make the appointments (because my head was spinning, and I was just going to make the appointments and then actually process the information...) and I said I couldn't believe I'd gotten such a bad report... And then SHE held up my x-rays and said "oh yeah, you have so many cavities. Even I can see them." The fact that the receptionist was so eager to tell me about my cavities was a red flag... I told her I was goign to wait and make the appointments later.

The next week, I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and told me they were fine. There were two or three places that looked like they could turn into cavities, but he didn't want to drill them because once you start drilling, your teeth are open to so many other problems. To this day, I only have 3 fillings in my mouth!

So...I am VERY skeptical of dentists after that. I know there are honest ones, but just like in every other profession, there are bad ones, too!

:eek: :eek:

I hope you told the 1st dentist office what the 2nd office said.!!

GreenTeaDisease

TrixieCat wrote:

:eek:
I hope you are joking.
If you are not, you do not have good dental hygiene. Sorry.
That is not supposed to be happening.

I dunno, my whole life I've bled after flossing, and I floss almost every night. sometimes it's less blood than others. but you have to get under the gum a bit, is what the dentist told me once...that's what makes me bleed I think. I asked if I gingivitis once, but they said no way (you know those commercials that say you have it if you bleed). My teeth are REALLY close together. a lot of times I have pull the floss through cuz I can't get it back out. that causes them to bleed too.

norm

Brain of J.Lo wrote:

I became skeptical of dentists a few years ago. The dentist I had gone to since childhood retired, and I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and promptly told me I had 10 cavities that needed to be filled, and urged me to make appointments to start getting them done right away. I was SHOCKED, because up to that point I had never had a single cavity. I walked over to the receptionist to make the appointments (because my head was spinning, and I was just going to make the appointments and then actually process the information...) and I said I couldn't believe I'd gotten such a bad report... And then SHE held up my x-rays and said "oh yeah, you have so many cavities. Even I can see them." The fact that the receptionist was so eager to tell me about my cavities was a red flag... I told her I was goign to wait and make the appointments later.

The next week, I went to a new one. He x-rayed my teeth and told me they were fine. There were two or three places that looked like they could turn into cavities, but he didn't want to drill them because once you start drilling, your teeth are open to so many other problems. To this day, I only have 3 fillings in my mouth!

So...I am VERY skeptical of dentists after that. I know there are honest ones, but just like in every other profession, there are bad ones, too!

i'm trying to think...there's a word for that....oh yeah, FRAUD!!.....:eek:....that's bullshit.....as for my dental health......i didn't go to a dentist for 18 years....went for the first time last year.....perfect teeth....:)....unfortunately that's the only perfect thing about me besides my mind....:p

TrixieCat

cutback wrote:

i'm trying to think...there's a word for that....oh yeah, FRAUD!!.........that's bullshit.....as for my dental health......i didn't go to a dentist for 18 years....went for the first time last year.....perfect teeth....:)....unfortunately that's the only perfect thing about me besides my mind....:p

You are perfectly imperfect.


Greentea....I really don't think your gums should be bleeding like that.
:eek: <---I just learned how to do this today. Sorry if I am overusing. It always reminds me of Steve or Cutback. lol

QuarterToTen

i guess i am lucky. i have gone to the same dental office since i was a child.
the dentist even cleans my teeth himself. i trust him completely.
he doesn't give me a hard time when i don't show up for years and then call with a problem and need to get right in.

had to get a crown about a month ago. he is a big pearl jam fan, so we chatted about ed's new songs.
on my return visit he even played the boot from the cincy 2000 show

he's a cool guy. he charged me $755 for the gold crown.
my insurance pays about half.