Community Chat

[Pink123]

I sort of knew this but did you know that "dental doctor's"  do so much better financially wise than your good old Primay Care Doc that is retiring or becoming nonexistent?

Yes they do.  Very sad.

[spent2much]

I believe it.  Dentists charge a FORTUNE!!!

[AZfem]

Yeah one crown at my dentist, without insurance,is $1,500+.  With my insurance, 2 crowns were almost $800 on my part  plus what insurance paid.  

[fthunt]

I can top yours - broke a front tooth in Sept- for bridge $4500 

plus root removal plus two fillings $800.

But I can smile again without that jack-o-lantern look.

No insurance................

[ECBG]

Good training plus top notch materials have a cost.  Everything is expensive.

People that have studied, hired the top notch staff to take you, aren't the ones to have an issue with.  The nice office wasn't free either.

You will have a time to share your opinion that will drive your life in a few months.

[SilleeMee]

What made my implant surgery (eight of them) possible is that I went to a dental institute to have the work done and saved thousands of dollars. It was all done by licensed, practicing dentists and dental surgeons who do this as a way to gain hours of experience for their practice from coast to coast.  They gave me the smile of my dreams.

[Kachina624]

@SilleeMee.  I went to the University of Texas Dental School almost weekly for 3 or 4 years.  They're very slow and I was usually in the chair 3-4 hours but all I had to pay for was materials and, like you, I saved thousands.   I had tons of sick leave on my job.

[Ronettes]

Just like my Dad, I have a mouthful of crowns -

And a front bridge (ten teeth) which was free of charge (my DH's union dental coverage), but which cost a total of $12,000.

The union had an agreement with this dental clinic that they paid 50% of the total costs of all procedures, with no co-pay by the patient.

The clinic billing department was furious that they only got paid $6,000 and called me at work, demanding that I pay the balance.  I told them that I had the paperwork showing my balance co-pay was zero.

They flipped and told me to call the union to pay the balance, I told them to call themselves and hung up.

By the way, it's a beautiful bridge!  

[SilleeMee]

I'm also fortunate to have a local community dental center in my city. Anyone can go there and they take insurance if you have it, I don't. But the best thing about it is they have a senior discount program where cleanings are free and fillings cost $10 each (!). Can't complain about that!

[SaveTheTurtles]

I'm guessing this is due in part to the fact that PCP's are aligned with a hospital system many times as they cannot compete otherwise. Whereas, dentists are usually in private practice but aligned with the major dental insurance players. Endodontists and Periodontists earn even more due to the specialized nature of their practices.