Dentists please advise

jesse said:
Yeah, I'm pushing the crowns to next year...the rest I'll pay out of pocket, which sucks.
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Time for another fund raiser? This time for "Catastrophic data loss prevention"? "My, what a nice forum you've got. Be a shame if anything.... happened to it." :rofl:
 
wbarnhill said:
Ba-dum-tshhhh

Agreed BTW. How many of the purple bags do you own, and what do you use em for?
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3

1 from gastons
1 from sidnaw
1 from the only time i've actually purchased a full bottle.
 
wbarnhill said:
Ba-dum-tshhhh

Agreed BTW. How many of the purple bags do you own, and what do you use em for?
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1 -- which I threw away. I really have little interest in drinking at home, drinking alone, isn't really that fun.
 
FlyNE said:
I have some tools and some JB Weld.
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100_Percent_Genuine_Mighty_Putty.jpg


Check out the coffee cup. Looks like the perfect material to swami up a couple of crowns!

Trapper John
 
Those purple bags make the most awesome stash spots for stuff. I use one for my change, one for my guitar picks, one for my extra memory sticks, and a bunch for other random stuff.

Too bad Crown's so expensive. I've been collecting them since 16 though....got some practice :D
 
jesse said:
They do CareCredit -- but I have little interest in financing any of it. I hate loans.
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Two years ago I used CareCredit to supplement my dental ins--I had a lot of dentistry which exceeded the annual ins cap.

You have one full year to pay back the loan. If you do that it is a ZERO interest loan. I saw it as a handy way to manage my budget and to build a little bit of credit.
 
Delta Dental is my insurer. Annual cap is $2,700 and they pay up to 80% on most work but 60% on crowns. I pay $13.08/mo.
 
Richard said:
Two years ago I used CareCredit to supplement my dental ins--I had a lot of dentistry which exceeded the annual ins cap.

You have one full year to pay back the loan. If you do that it is a ZERO interest loan. I saw it as a handy way to manage my budget and to build a little bit of credit.
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Which is exactly how I used it. Set up automated payments so I didn't even have to think about it. If someone wants to give me money at 0%, who am I to say no?
 
gprellwitz said:
Which is exactly how I used it. Set up automated payments so I didn't even have to think about it. If someone wants to give me money at 0%, who am I to say no?
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About 'free' money...try as I might I couldn't find any strings attached. There were no administrative mix-ups, dunning notices, telemarketing, unsolicited offers or any such crap. But there was prompt notice of payments received including the final statement. GE was straight up.
 
Jesse:

The fees you were quoted are quite reasonable. The trouble is that it is all being thrown at you at the same time.

It is certainly possible for you to defer some treatment until your insurance rolls over next year. I would caution, however, to not get fooled into a false sense of security because "it doesn't hurt". Many dental conditions do not present themselves with symptoms until they have progressed to the point where they are more difficult, and yes more expensive to treat. Often times, high end dental treatment is avoidable by being proactive and having checkups. Sure you spend $100+ every 6 months, but that sounds better than a $5000.00 bill to me any time.

The attitude that your root canal treated teeth don't seem to need crowns to you is an example. When a root canal is done, the tooth is essentially hollowed out, all the way down to the tip of the root(s). There is a filling material that is placed within the root, but it is not a structural material. Performing a root canal on a tooth leaves it very weakened and quite prone to fracture, especially back teeth, or molars. A crown is indicated on these teeth to prevent such fractures. All may be well now, but sometime, someplace you will bite down on something just right and the tooth will break. The roll of the dice is *how* the tooth breaks. Sometimes they fracture in such a way that renders the tooth unrestorable, even with a crown. So then all the time and expense that was invested in saving the tooth with a root canal is wasted. Then the much higher expense of an implant supported crown will come into play.

Spread out the treatment you need, but don't put things off too long. As was mentioned before, discuss your concern with your dentist. He/she will be able to recommend a treatment schedule that will provide you with the treatment you need, as well as make it a bit more financially doable for you.

I am sorry to hear some of the negative vibes in previous posts regarding the profession of dentistry. As with any profession, there will be bad eggs and you will/can encounter a practitioner who over-treats. I hope I am correct that those of my colleagues who fall into that description are few and far between

And yes, I'm a dentist in real life.......
 
jesse said:
They do CareCredit -- but I have little interest in financing any of it. I hate loans.
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Jesse- I agree with you about loans on general, but if this is a zero % loan for a year and there aren't other strings attached, I would consider it. If you put the money in the bank (with their lousy yields) and pay a zero percent loan back you come out ahead. I'm also assuming it is best to have the dental work done this year. Do the math and see if it works, and see that it meets your comfort level.
 
painless said:
Jesse:

The fees you were quoted are quite reasonable. The trouble is that it is all being thrown at you at the same time.

It is certainly possible for you to defer some treatment until your insurance rolls over next year. I would caution, however, to not get fooled into a false sense of security because "it doesn't hurt". Many dental conditions do not present themselves with symptoms until they have progressed to the point where they are more difficult, and yes more expensive to treat. Often times, high end dental treatment is avoidable by being proactive and having checkups. Sure you spend $100+ every 6 months, but that sounds better than a $5000.00 bill to me any time.

The attitude that your root canal treated teeth don't seem to need crowns to you is an example. When a root canal is done, the tooth is essentially hollowed out, all the way down to the tip of the root(s). There is a filling material that is placed within the root, but it is not a structural material. Performing a root canal on a tooth leaves it very weakened and quite prone to fracture, especially back teeth, or molars. A crown is indicated on these teeth to prevent such fractures. All may be well now, but sometime, someplace you will bite down on something just right and the tooth will break. The roll of the dice is *how* the tooth breaks. Sometimes they fracture in such a way that renders the tooth unrestorable, even with a crown. So then all the time and expense that was invested in saving the tooth with a root canal is wasted. Then the much higher expense of an implant supported crown will come into play.

Spread out the treatment you need, but don't put things off too long. As was mentioned before, discuss your concern with your dentist. He/she will be able to recommend a treatment schedule that will provide you with the treatment you need, as well as make it a bit more financially doable for you.

I am sorry to hear some of the negative vibes in previous posts regarding the profession of dentistry. As with any profession, there will be bad eggs and you will/can encounter a practitioner who over-treats. I hope I am correct that those of my colleagues who fall into that description are few and far between

And yes, I'm a dentist in real life.......
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Thanks for the info. I don't believe that the dentist is trying to rip me off by any means -- as much as I'm trying to see if the prices were competitive. Our health system is what it is and I don't believe it is the individual fault of any particular dentist, they're just trying to make the best living they can..just like the rest of us.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Jesse- I agree with you about loans on general, but if this is a zero % loan for a year and there aren't other strings attached, I would consider it. If you put the money in the bank (with their lousy yields) and pay a zero percent loan back you come out ahead. I'm also assuming it is best to have the dental work done this year. Do the math and see if it works, and see that it meets your comfort level.
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But he doesn't come out ahead compared to letting his insurance reset and having them pay for a percentage of the work. :)
 
FlyNE said:
But he doesn't come out ahead compared to letting his insurance reset and having them pay for a percentage of the work. :)
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That's what I did. I spread it out over 3 yrs of ins caps. (Actually I started in last month of yr 1 and finished in first month of yr 3.)

Unfortunately, this strategy won't work for Jesse since we're not yet in the middle of the year.
 
wbarnhill said:
How many of the purple bags do you own, and what do you use em for?
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Redneck autopilot.

If you have a plane that doesn't fly straight, you take a Crown bag and hang it from one side of the yoke and add stones to it until the plane flies straight. :yes: :D
 
Rotor&Wing said:
Take a vacation to Mexico and get it done for about a 1/4 of the cost.
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This is second hand information (I haven't acted on it myself) - but I've been told that you can go to any sizeable border town (Tijuana, Juarez, etc) and will find spotless, well-equipped dental clinics staffed by well-qualified people - and will pay much less for the same service. VMMV.

Dave
 
cessna182b said:
This is second hand information (I haven't acted on it myself) - but I've been told that you can go to any sizeable border town (Tijuana, Juarez, etc) and will find spotless, well-equipped dental clinics staffed by well-qualified people - and will pay much less for the same service. VMMV.

Dave
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This is all true, but add in travel costs (that is if you are not from the area) and the usual tourist type expenses and it may turn out to be a wash. Also consider that sometimes there may be problems with treatment results that would need a follow up visit. Going to go to Mexico again?

This is hopefully an isolated case, but I had a patient in who went the Mexico route for a major-league long span anterior bridge that replaced the majority of his front top teeth. He came to me because one of the few teeth holding it in was sore. Turns out the bridge was replacing way too many teeth for the number of natural teeth that were supporting it and this particular tooth's root had fractured. End result was that he was going to lose the brand new bridge he just had put in and would need either a denture or a major implant case. He didn't like what I was telling him (the truth) and I have not seen him since.

Again, YMMV.
 
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