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| Wed, 02-10-2010 - 5:25pm |
Dh and I have been ignoring the doctor and the dentist for a long time now. Many years! It started long ago when DH switched jobs and we lost insurance for a little while, then when we finally did get insurance, they had no dentists in our area and the closest doctor was 30 minutes away. Now we have new insurance and the debts and just plain 'ol 'lack of desire to make a call' has stopped me from making all the back-dated appointments we've needed. Dh has been complaining about tooth pain lately so I made him an appointment and I also got myself into a dentist as well. Those appointments happened today and guess what? Thousands of dollars of dental work, that's what!
DH needs a tooth extracted and a bridge and a root canal. They are quoting us $4800 but only 2300 out of our pockets which confuses me because I didn't think my insurance covered that much per person, per year. Next appointment was mine and it turns out that I need a tooth extracted (Keep in mind that both DH and I have had a root canal and a crown put on both of these teeth so it's like we're throwing $4000 dollars worth of work out the window by pulling out these teeth!) and after my tooth is extracted, I have the choice of putting in an implant which will cost anywhere from $2-4000 dollars and is not covered by my insurance. Then I'll need an additional crown and an abuttment? on the tooth. Fantastic!
I can only get so much work done this year and I have the option of not doing the implant, but then in the years to come, my top tooth is going to descend down until that tooth will need to be extracted as well. Choices, choices! So do I spend $3-6000 dollars on my tooth or lose both teeth and just live with it for the rest of my life? On a positive note, he did say that the implant would last me the rest of my life. One less denture in my future?
So for all those years that I avoided the dentist because it was too far, or too expensive to go. Well, now it's even more expensive!!!!! The dentist did tell us that our teeth were pretty great looking for not having had any cleanings for 5 years. But the outside doesn't tell the full story!
I'm just so frustrated because here we are on the verge of paying off all of our debt with our tax refund and have a boat-load of money leftover to add to our safety net and wham! Dental bills!

Oh Abby I am sorry! I know how frustrating steps back can be when they are dental/medical related, but we HAVE to take care of these things.
The costs you mention sound VERY high to me. I use this little website called "Cost Helper - What People are Paying" http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/tooth-extraction.html and I have found it to be fairly accurate.
When I look up tooth extraction I get this http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/tooth-extraction.html
And when I look up root canal I get this http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/root-canal.html
Another option might be to look at Dental Schools in your area - resident students often do work (supervised of course) for a much lower rate. I know your teeth are not something you want any student doing but the programs are monitored closely.
Good luck!
Some friendly advice from someone that has spent a ton of money on her mouth. Find a doctor that will do mini implants they are half the cost and work just as good even better sometime.. I paid 5600 in November of 2008 to have a 5 tooth bridge and one tooth pulled. It lasted exactly 7 months and bridge gave way and took a
May I offer my suggestion.
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
Ugh! The dentist. I hate going there. I think you should get a second option too for the procedures and the prices. Good luck Abby.
The thing that confuses me about second opinions. Am I going to have to pay for the exam all over again? I've already had a million x-rays done and I have a thing with x-rays...I don't want any more than I need to have. So I pay for the first set of X-rays and the exam and consultation which already has me up to $120 after my insurance pays. Then I'm going to have to not only find another dentist, but book an appointment and then pay him as well for x-rays, exam and consultation? Will my insurance even cover more x-rays and more 2nd opinions?
I trust my dentist completely. He has been my dentist for over 15 years. He has done so many things for me to make things cheaper. He whitened my teeth for free for my wedding. He gave us a free $80 electric toothbrush. He is pulling my tooth out himself instead of sending me to a specialist that would charge $300. He's going to do it for $174. He's done pretty much all the work in my mouth so he knows what's going on in there. So him I trust. The fact that they aren't in my network and I don't get the discounted prices that my dental insurance mandates is a problem. But after trusting him for so long, I don't want to have to find a new dentist just because he's not in my network. They have also set up very manageable payment plans for me in the past. They are also a very high rated dentist. Unfortunately, that's probably why they are kind of expensive.
My husbands dentist is new, but they are in network and our insurance is giving us a huge discount for using them.
I think I need to get a breakdown from each dentist and the oral surgeon as to what they are doing and how much it's going to cost and how much my insurance will cover.
I'm so confused, but I don't know if I need a second opinion. I know that I need the tooth out. It's causing a huge infection in my jaw that is eating my bone away. There's no way to save it. And my husband has a hole in his tooth the size of a boulder. It's not save-able. The question I have to ask myself is do me and my husband want to live without those teeth or do we want to do the implant and the bridge?
If you trust your dentist and feel prefectly comfortable with him, I don't blame you, I would not want to go anywhere else and dish out more money.
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
Luckily, I don't have to worry about my teeth right away. All I have to do is get one cavity filled and another tooth extracted which I've already got scheduled. Then I have to wait 6 months for the bone to heal before they can do an implant anyway. I have 12 months after having the tooth extracted to decide on the implant. So for this year, we're going to focus on DH. He needs the tooth extracted right away and a root canal done, but the root canal can wait a little while. Although I'm running the risk of losing that tooth too if I wait too long. Once the root canal is done, I have to decide within a few weeks whether I want the bridge or not. They have financing options that we're going to have to look into. Some kind of 18 month interest free thing, but we may not qualify for the full amount. The rest we'll have to finance on a dental credit card. I'm just going to take this one step at a time and see what happens.
We do have $5000 dollars coming in from our tax refund but I really don't want to get rid of all of my cash. I need it for emergencies.
As far as the trips go. Well, we've already paid for half of them with no refunds. We're just going to have to regroup and figure out the rest of our year. I'm already starting to have anxiety. I need to make more money!
Hi Abby,
You should be able to take your xrays from your dentist to another dentist; they are yours since you paid for them.
I personally would consider getting a tooth that is causing an infection and loss of jaw bone an emergency so I hope you are going to take care of yourself and have that one removed.
Take care of yourself too. I know it is hard to choose. Over a four or five year period I only had my teeth cleaned twice and all the plaque and tartar built up below my gumline (I didn't understand about that) and ate away the enamel on my teeth. Now, years later, my gums have receded and that missing enamel is exposed...It's hard to do everything but please try to take care of yourself
I am definitely getting that tooth removed. I have it scheduled for March 3rd. I don't have to decide on the implant for a year after that. I'm definitely not looking forward to it though! I have had my eyes opened about the dentist. I always just thought that the only thing that could happen is a root canal or some cavities. I had no idea that you could get infections in the roots and lose bone, or have gum disease and be in jeopardy of losing your teeth. No idea! We went out last night and bought mouth wash and floss and we are starting a brand new habit of flossing every day...with my kids too! I will never let my appointments slide again! It's much better to spend a hundred on a cleaning, X-rays and some fillings than to have to spend thousands and thousands on surgeries and special procedures.
I knew that this year was going to be the year of medical expenses. Both me and my husband have been slacking on our health for a few years. He lost health insurance a couple years ago and we never got back into those good habits after that. I have to get DH back into the doctor as well. He took his blood pressure at a wal-mart machine yesterday and it was not good. His father was diagnosed with diabetes at 47 and Dh has had high cholesterol since his early 20's. I have started my own healthy changes. I'm exercising, eating really healthy and losing weight but DH is slower to change. He needs some sense knocked into him.