Dental Cost on the Rise.

[Floridagail]

I had pain in my ear and went to GP about 3 weeks ago, after meds I got better. But here it comes again ear pain. One of my teeth felt cold sensitive. Oh No, I went to Dentist yesterday, 2 root canals 1800.00 Yuk. I called my general dentist his office quoted me 2700 for 2 new crowns and post on those two teeth . I almost had a panic attack. Why the heck are they not regulated. I do not see how anyone can now afford dental care. If you are lucky to dental insurance it only pays 1000. I need another crown also and was quoted 900 last year now 1400.

[tobee43]

it's OUT of hand!!! we had the same dentist for over 25 years before we moved to florida and now we found an "ok" one...but they all want their money up front. shoot, our other dentist took monthly payments with no problems. since i had two kids, root canals, bridges etc. it was 10s of thousands!!! again, but at least they took monthly payments. we did have insurance and we still do but they pay so little.

also, get this...i had a crown done here in florida and was quoted the same amount or close as you were. they i said well i have insurance and they pay at 50% oh she says..ok well people with insurance get a different rate. well, hate to say it was HALF of what the first quote was. i think i had to pay approx $475 a crown.

opppppppssss forgot to mention the implants at over 10k a piece!!!!!!!! i needed 5 of them. i got them done up north and heard from someone here in florida i got a great deal since it's even more here! unreal!

[Floridagail]

Its definately out of hand. Needs regulation as to what they can charge. 1989 I paid 3000 for 3 tooth bridge in front bottom,Tampa. DR M Well I had braces at time and it had to be cut 1996 , When I went to get new bridge( the insurance said I needed implants and would not pay( HMO insurance) So I had to pay 3000 again for new bridge out of my pocket. Well last year it broke in two. I again had to pay 3200 for it to be replaced DR B The dentist here Lakeland, told me that the crowns I had were the most expensive porcelain I did not really need them as they are more prone to break. So no wonder my crowns were breaking.
My hubby went to this dentist DR M in Tampa, he told him he needed 9 crowns. We then went to a older dentist in tampa who did 1 filling and said if you want crowns you can get them, but not necessary right nowl. That was 9 yrs ago. No trouble with his teeth since.

[daveinIL]

..ok well people with insurance get a different rate. well, hate to say it was HALF of what the first quote was.

When dealing with any kind of medical issues where you are paying cash, you MUST negotiate down to at most the same as the insurance charge. You can sometimes go even lower than the insurance rate since the doctor will not have to deal with the paperwork.

I have personally asked for and received a less-than-insurance-price for a $5000 procedure. I believe we paid less than $700 cash.

This is a tough thing to learn to do in our modern society since haggling and bartering are not taught to us these days, but it is well worth it.

Oh...and do the negotiating BEFORE they put in the new crowns or take out your appendix...you are in a really poor negotiating position if you attempt to negotiate after they hand you the bill.

[ValleYum]

Also, asking to be on a cancellation list is a great way for bargaining! You are quickly filling in a time slot where a patient cancelled at the last minute or didn't show up. They would rather give you a discount if you are paying cash than make $0 in the time slot. I got a couple of fillings done for under $200 by bargaining for that in advance.

[Sammie]

Gosh, I have to say that we have a great Dentist. His Nurses even say he cares more about the Patient than the money. I had Bonding done on my 2 front teeth last year, we paid out of pocket $250, Ins. paid the rest. 2 cleanings a year free. He also takes payments.

A friend of mine in Atlanta just this week told me that his Ins. pays 80% and he paid $189.00 OOP this week for a cleaning.sammie

[tobee43]

dave...let me clarify that. the insurance rate was far LESS!!! than those having to pay out of pocket. i was shocked.

also with my implants there was so dealing going on but it was so expensive i ended up having to hit the parents up since there were bone issues etc. and really wasn't for a vanity issue...AND i had to pay for cadaver bones for my face....i couldn't afford to be put out so i had to watch as they took the bone marrow from my hands to my mouth...a real fun time. it would have been over 3k additional to be put out. i couldn't do it. anyway, glad for the moment that's over!

valle, leave it to you to think of absolutely everything!!!! LOL!!!

wow sammie that does seem so high for a cleaning. i know we are covered in full 2xs a year for cleaning and xrays. again, we are blessed with excellent insurance from my husbands state police retirement. dental was added only about 5 years ago so it was a real good thing.

we have the dentist on monday, now i just can't wait!

[daveinIL]

dave...let me clarify that. the insurance rate was far LESS!!! than those having to pay out of pocket. i was shocked.

Yes, I knew that was what you were saying. My point is that this is normal because insurance companies have negotiated a lower standard rate for EVERYTHING. You can (somewhat) easily get this same rate or sometimes even better by spending a little time asking for it.

[tobee43]

Yes, I knew that was what you were saying. My point is that this is normal because insurance companies have negotiated a lower standard rate for EVERYTHING. You can (somewhat) easily get this same rate or sometimes even better by spending a little time asking for it.

i got it! i suppose it's much easier for the insurance companies to do that because they have the "power". i also find it's so different here in florida. every dentist we had in nj although only 4 and the last one for over 25 years, they ALL worked with you for payments. while here in florida they want money up front. the first dentist we had here i refused, and said i will give you half, but not until the work is complete will i pay the balance. they didn't like that, but did it. i found someone else and while they are excellent, they want their money right up front! just a new experience for us, maybe they have been stuck with bills, or don't want to get involved with billing, i don't know. it's like the costs of everything is going up and we aren't getting any extra monies in our pension or our ss to cover it. it's like being slammed against a brick wall with no place to go.

[GoingDown]

Look for dental clinics and dental schools in your area.

If you live in metro Phoenix, the Maricopa County Hospital in Phoenix has a dental clinic with a sliding scale fee based upon your income and resources.

Here is their website for more info, if you live around here... http://www.mihs.org/facilities/compr...lthcare-center

Dental schools provide excellent teeth cleaning for a relatively low cost. Some of them provide other services as well, but I prefer to go to the Maricopa County Hospital for those things, since they are more experienced.

But here are some websites which might interest you about dental school clinics...

http://phoenix.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=phoenix&cdn=citiestowns&tm=11&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_p554.23.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.mesacc.edu/dept/d11/dental/hygiene/patient.html

http://www.phoenixcollege.edu/student-resources/campus-resources/dental-clinic

http://www.mwuclinic.com/Dental_Institute.html

http://www.atsudental.com/home/

http://www.azda.org/pdf/CommunityDentalClinics.pdf

[keepsmiling]

There is always a coupon or a Groupon for cleaning for 40-50$
Sadly even that is a luxury for us now. And the local dental school wants MORE money than that. Not to mention, the one time we did it-- it took HOURS!!! so be prepared. Literally, hours. The students needed to be checked every five minutes or so. Major PITA.

[jacko]

So much for American exceptionalism I keep hearing about.

[ksgirl38]

I paid $284 for a cleaning and checkup a few months ago. I thought that was crazy. My last dentist was about $87 so I might be going back to them next time.

Not sure I'd want to risk a student doing any dental work on me, but that's just me.

[HRx]

Most dental insurances offer between $300-$2,000 per year in coverage. Anything beyond the basic cleaning or filling is atrocious in terms of cost. Most established dentists earn a lucrative profit margin on services beyond a cleaning/filling. Some dental offices offer a no credit check monthly payment option for services not covered under a plan. However, you'll need to make a substantial down payment in most cases. Hope all works out well for you.

[Floridagail]

I was able to get a discount on the root canal of 25% because I paid with no insurance I did use my debit card also.
But the dentist office failed to tell me about any discount until have I paid with my debt card. They informed me if I brought cash I could get 5% discount , but since I used my debt card they had to pay visa a fee so I could not get discount. I came home and called back after much discussion they agreed to discount my next visit 120.00. So I will write a check nexttime. I did put 1000 on my carecredit account so I could not get any discount on it. I did talk to the dental assistant who just finished her training 1 yr ago. about dental schools. She said I would not go to the school in tampa I went to for dental work. The best thing to do is find a small dental office with small staff and the prices will be lower than large dental businesses.