Wellness

[Q4u]

By the way, we put the money we would have spent paying for dental insurance into a special account for our dental needs. When we added up the monthly payments and the percentage of work done for the year plus the deductable we figured that except for an occasional big job, we were well covered by our own account. And the longer we have this account, the more money we have in it for future work.  DH just had a root canal last year.  It's worked well for 6 years now.  AND once the dental offices found out we don't have dental insurance they leave us alone for the most part. We get cleanings and check ups every six months.  So far, so good.....

[Tinkrbl44]

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@hoosieroriginal wrote:

I too am going to change dentists - I have never been told I have so many cavities as when I started this dentist.  By the time I was 27 I only had 1 cavity and same throughout my life.  Now, every time I go in they tell me I have a couple more - I'm done with him and finding a reputable dentist - I think there are many fraudulent dentists out there.  When I had my last two filled, I swear he was in my mouth about 2 minutes and then had the girls fill them.  Something's not right.  Find another dentist.  I'm going to have my films sent to the new dentist to see what he thinks. 

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@hoosieroriginal

I sincerely hope you'll take the time to file a complaint with your state medical board or ADA ... do a little research.   These thieves need to be reported.  

[Yardlie]

@Kachina624 ... I'm glad to hear you had such excellent dental care. You were lucky to go to a dental school that only charged for supplies. When I was getting my degree as a hygienist, I attended a university with a dental school in it. I had work done there also. That was in the late 70's and early 80's. They charged lower fees than most dentists, so I had some nice crowns done for very little $$. However, I have heard that most dental schools charge almost as much as general dentists do now. The cost for materials, facilities, and faculty has gone up so much that they can no longer afford to offer it so inexpensively. There might be a couple around who still do, but I don't know where.

However, if you do not have dental insurance, you can get your teeth cleaned and x-rays done very inexpensively at most dental hygiene schools.

[Yardlie]

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@PurpleBunny wrote:

Having worked in the field ... there are bad dentists out there, trust me, I've seen lots of horror stories.  Of course, there are plenty of good, honest people too ... buyer beware! 

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Every dentist has work he is proud of and an occasional "screwup." Even the best dentists mess up on occasion. There are not a "lot" of bad dentists out there. There are a few, but there are a few bad professionals in every business.

[Yardlie]

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@hoosieroriginal wrote:

I too am going to change dentists - I have never been told I have so many cavities as when I started this dentist.  By the time I was 27 I only had 1 cavity and same throughout my life.  Now, every time I go in they tell me I have a couple more - I'm done with him and finding a reputable dentist - I think there are many fraudulent dentists out there.  When I had my last two filled, I swear he was in my mouth about 2 minutes and then had the girls fill them.  Something's not right.  Find another dentist.  I'm going to have my films sent to the new dentist to see what he thinks. 

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What you refer to a female dentist or medical doctor as a "girl?" Those "girls" who place the filling material in some dentists office are highly trained professionals. The dentist does the drilling, and they do the filling of the cavity preparation. In the end, it saves you money as it requires less of the dentists time.

The state that I know of that requires minimal training for assistants and hygienists to perform this function is Kentucky. They also require minimal training for assistants to take x-rays. At least they require some training for assistants in these two areas now, as they did not when I practiced dental hygiene there.

[Yardlie]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@hoosieroriginal wrote:

I too am going to change dentists - I have never been told I have so many cavities as when I started this dentist.  By the time I was 27 I only had 1 cavity and same throughout my life.  Now, every time I go in they tell me I have a couple more - I'm done with him and finding a reputable dentist - I think there are many fraudulent dentists out there.  When I had my last two filled, I swear he was in my mouth about 2 minutes and then had the girls fill them.  Something's not right.  Find another dentist.  I'm going to have my films sent to the new dentist to see what he thinks. 

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@hoosieroriginal

I sincerely hope you'll take the time to file a complain with your state medical board or ADA ... do a little research.   These thieves need to be reported.  

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There are legitimate reasons why people often start getting more cavities again as they get older. I am not going to get into a discussion of it here, as some of you have your minds made up that mosts dentists are crooks anyway. Not true...so I won't bother educating you about..

[Yardlie]

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@Mary Bailey wrote:

Every time my oldest son switched dentists they always told him he needed a crown, or a root canal.  I told him to make them send xrays to his dental insurance for a pre-determination.  He didn't need them.

I'm cynical.  When dentist offices call where I work. The first thing they ask is how much of the benefits are remaining. Then they ask for coverage on high end items like root canal, occusal guards, implants, scaling and root planing. They haven't even seen the patient yet.  I think they are fishing. Also I have a friend in a dental office, she said they get quarterly bonuses for "upselling" (her word) things like occusal guards. 

When I needed a emergency filling a couple of weeks ago they wouldn't do the service until I paid my share. I reluctantly paid. I felt like I was being held hostage waiting in the chair, while they did my treatment plan.  They collected too much. I have dual coverage and I didn't really owe anything. Now I'm waiting for them to refund my HSA card. 

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There are legitimate reasons for all of the above. I could explain it to you, but why waste my time and energy when your mind is made up that these dentists are crooks? You don't want to hear the truth.

[Yardlie]

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@NicksmomESQ wrote:

  Many years ago my DH went to a new dentist.He was told that he needed thousands of dollars worth of work.3 root canals,caps etc.They said they were going to submit it to his insurance company & get back to him.My DH told them not to do it because he wanted to think about it.

  Well you guessed it,they submitted it to his insurance,got the work approved & would not stop calling to get him to come in!!.I told my husband to try his mom's dentist for a second opinion.At first he resisted but finally went. Guess what MIL dentist did a full exam & announced that he had one tiny cavity.The dentist shook his head in disbelief when we told him what happened!!!!

    I called the crooked dentist's office & told them off.I then called my insurance company & advised them what happened!! They ended up expelling that office from their approved list!!

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No insurance company would "expel" a dentist from their approved list based on the complaints of a patient...or even several patients. It is the dentist who decides if they want to work with the insurance company...not the other way around. The only way an insurance company would drop a dentist is if the dentist was found guilty of fraud by the Board of Dentistry in that state...or if the Board revoked the dentist's license...both of which takes a massive investigation and years to prove.

[Yardlie]

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[qbetzforreal]

this happen to friend. 1st dentist said there were cavities, did a whole lot of unnecessary work thatleft my friend in pain.  She went to the 2nd dentist (also my dentist) who told her the the previous work had had totally unnecessary.

another friend had a dentist after the initial exam put in a claim for the total insurance benefit before any work had been completed.