Community Chat

[Hoovermom]

Yes, I agree with you. My dentist who we went to for years all of a sudden wanted to replace a filling I had for many years with a porcelain one. He told me that it was starting to show a hairline crack. I asked for them to request a quote from my insurance company before the procedure was done. They did and insurance would only cover less than $100 for this $800 procedure. Due to my DH's change in dental coverage, this dentist would not take our insurance anymore, so I had to change dentist. Lo and behold the new dentist could not find any hairline crack in this tooth and said there was nothing wrong with the tooth. Just a month or so ago I received a phone call from my old dentist saying that he was taking all kinds of insurance and did I want to come back. My answer was a polite "no thank you".

[Tinkrbl44]

On 9/11/2014 gazelle77 said:

I totally GET what you are saying. Everytime I go to the dentist there is something that they point out needing attention. Now I have 59 year old teeth, and yes, I do have issues to be addressed... but I also need to watch my bank account and just can not afford to fix everything right NOW.

I just crowned two teeth with old mercury fillings... they had cracks in them like you were talking about and with my upcoming surgery on my hip, I wanted it taken care of before surgery. I have one more molar left with a mercury filling that needs a crown( will fix later). The two teeth I crowned cost me out of pocket WITH GOOD INSURANCE-- $1200.

I take extra good care of my teeth, but, still have recession, and my teeth are not perfect white. I would love to have a movie star smile,( I do not) but, really, at this point in my life, I just want to have healthy teeth, that do not hurt. IF I could afford to have $50,000 worth of restoration and have a movie star smile, I would do it gladly. But until that happens, I just try to keep up with my teeth, fix them as I need to and can afford to. They are not movie star beautiful... it seems that is what the dentist now strive for with their patients. Crowns are not a perfect fix either.... you get decay UNDER crowns usually which down the road leads to the nerve dying and a root canal. As they are now pushing implants at $5000 a tooth... it is just so out of touch with reality to the average consumer. So, it just basically NEVER ENDS.

What's the difference between a mercury filling and a silver filling?

[colliemom4]

On 9/11/2014 Hoovermom said:

Yes, I agree with you. My dentist who we went to for years all of a sudden wanted to replace a filling I had for many years with a porcelain one. He told me that it was starting to show a hairline crack. I asked for them to request a quote from my insurance company before the procedure was done. They did and insurance would only cover less than $100 for this $800 procedure. Due to my DH's change in dental coverage, this dentist would not take our insurance anymore, so I had to change dentist. Lo and behold the new dentist could not find any hairline crack in this tooth and said there was nothing wrong with the tooth. Just a month or so ago I received a phone call from my old dentist saying that he was taking all kinds of insurance and did I want to come back. My answer was a polite "no thank you".

Earlier this year I was told that one of my filled teeth had a bad crack in it and was about to break at any moment. I was then asked if I was in pain and said no. I wasn't pushed to fix it, but I was suspicous because I've been lied to by so many dentists for years. Anyhow, I was careful eating on that side for a while and it never bothered me so I went on to eat hard apples, popcorn, hard chips and just about everything else you can eat that would break a tooth and nothing happened. I also never felt pain.

I recently went to another dentist and they said there isn't anything wrong with that tooth.

[KathyPet]

Oh yes my dentist's billing practices annoy me too. Let's say a procedure costs $100.00 and my insurance will cover 50% When I go to check out at the desk the staff person will tell me that I owe $50.00 and I used to pay that on the spot. Then when I received the claim form from the insurance I would discover that the insurance company says that procedure is only worth $80.00 so they pay $40.00. Since my dentist is a participating dentist with my insurance he has to accept the $80.00 as full payment and write off the $20.00 difference which they do. However since I paid them $50.00 and they got $40.00 from the insurance company I now have a credit balance which I have to call and get refunded. Now I will not pay when I check out. I tell them to bill me once the insurance company has paid and adjusted the amount They are receiving.

[foundinlv]

I would like to know if anyone was ever told by their cardiologist that they were in danger of heart disease because of their teeth or gums. My dad wore an upper denture and was diligent about his lowers just requiring a bridge yet he was never told at any given time in his life by a cardiologist that it was his teeth putting him at risk. After you have your teeth removed for a denture you have no more toothache, gum disease and certainly no root canal in your future. In his 70's, he had a mild heart attack and received a of couple stents. Further study showed he had minimal damage to his heart and it was very strong.

[NoelSeven]

Kathy,

I think the problem is the dentist you were using. Mine sure isn't that way.

But! I'll agree that there's a difference in dentistry! I went to see my dentist last week because a very small filling had come lose. He was looking in my mouth and asked if I was numb yet. I asked what he meant, there was no shot or anything. What an advancement that is!

[ivanatrump]

I guess I'm lucky because my dentist doesn't push any procedures on me.

Modern dentistry does try to save natural teeth, which means numerous procedures may be performed on the same tooth. Nothing lasts forever and eventually the tooth may need to be removed. Then there's an implant, and a new crown, and so on, and so on.

[Hoovermom]

On 9/11/2014 colliemom3 said:

On 9/11/2014 Hoovermom said:

Yes, I agree with you. My dentist who we went to for years all of a sudden wanted to replace a filling I had for many years with a porcelain one. He told me that it was starting to show a hairline crack. I asked for them to request a quote from my insurance company before the procedure was done. They did and insurance would only cover less than $100 for this $800 procedure. Due to my DH's change in dental coverage, this dentist would not take our insurance anymore, so I had to change dentist. Lo and behold the new dentist could not find any hairline crack in this tooth and said there was nothing wrong with the tooth. Just a month or so ago I received a phone call from my old dentist saying that he was taking all kinds of insurance and did I want to come back. My answer was a polite "no thank you".

Earlier this year I was told that one of my filled teeth had a bad crack in it and was about to break at any moment. I was then asked if I was in pain and said no. I wasn't pushed to fix it, but I was suspicous because I've been lied to by so many dentists for years. Anyhow, I was careful eating on that side for a while and it never bothered me so I went on to eat hard apples, popcorn, hard chips and just about everything else you can eat that would break a tooth and nothing happened. I also never felt pain.

I recently went to another dentist and they said there isn't anything wrong with that tooth.

Glad you checked with another dentist. It seems anymore that they are more concerned with their bank account than being truthful and honest. Really made me so disappointed with my old dentist because we really liked him.

[151949]

Last spring (2013) i went to a dentist in Florida who diagnosed that I had a ton of issues and gave me a computer readout that totalled out to $9000 worth of work. I brought that readout home to my trusted old dentist when we came north and it was ALL totally a rip off. Can you imagine? My old dentist took a complete series of x rays and some photos of my gums which he sent in to the state of Florida and the dental assoc. There is a court case pending and their license has been temporarily revoked pending that case. Apparently the ADA has found several other cases similar to mine regarding that dental practice.Apparently they thought that all old people are just fools - well i guess we have proven them wrong about that.

More folks who figure out they are being ripped off need to pursue that legally in order to stop this practice. As our old dentist explained it to me - most seniors don't have dental ins, and that is why they get ripped off. Dental insurance requires that before any procedure is approved proof it needs done must be submitted.Thus they can't rip off those with insurance. So it not only helps a lot to pay the bill but also protects the consumer.

You can get dental insurance & vision insurance at AARP if you are a senior and don't have it.

[terrier3]

MDs push all kinds of tests too.

At least coordination of electronic records and health plans that pay them per patient (vs. per service) should help a little! But most people with insurance don't take the time to question all the unnecessary tests.

If everyone had dental insurance, we wouldn't question those bills too closely either, IMO!