I went to the dentist today, and they started work on a crown.

[raccoon]

One of my teeth broke off this past weekend and so I called the dentist today. They took an x-ray and told me I needed a crown.

They told me they could start work today--some patients hadn't shown up. I had them go ahead and start. I realize I'm lucky to be able to afford it.

I don't believe the patients didn't show up. I don't think they are that busy. Times are hard and people have to cut back. Many people can't afford dental work.

[Bay Boy]

1. That's one possibility...

...another is illness. Or people chickened out.

[Iggo]

9. ...and another possibility is that they couldn't afford to take the day off.

I had to postpone three doctor appointments because of that.

To be clear: I had to do postpone my doctor appointment...so I could go to work instead...so I could afford health insurance.

Probably not all that uncommon.

[Egnever]

16. Why not schedule your appointments for when you are off?

just curious.

[Iggo]

20. Saturday and Sunday?

Hadn't thought of that.

[Egnever]

21. Well maybe where you live

There are no options for saturday or sunday. I dont know but I have no trouble getting an appointment on one of those days.

[Iggo]

30. So all I have to do is convince my doctor to come in on weekends and I'm golden!

[Lurker Deluxe]

34. I know, right

Like you, my doctor has pretty much the same working hours that I do.

http://www.villagefamilypractice.com/index.cfm

I am fortunate that I have a very good boss and if I tell him I am going to schedule a dr's visit in the morning/afternoon he allows me to make that appointment without docking my hours.

[Egnever]

39. That is entirely up to you

You could find a different doc that has hours that work for you or you can cry poor me. My bet you will continue to cry poor me and inconvenience your doctor and other who would have used the slot you took then dropped over and over.

I am guessing it's just how you roll.

[Iggo]

40. Aw, don't be mad.

I apologize for my sarcastic replies to your unasked-for advice.

Friends again?

[Old Navy]

2. My wife needed a crown and was covered 50% through her work

and our dentist accepts payments - he has known us for about 30 years (me as a kid)....

[quinnox]

3. yep. I was supposed to get one, but never did

The dentist told me it was ok, last time I had a check up.

I'm dreading going back to the dentist, just because I know I have a lot of stuff that needs to be taken care of. Luckily, I have insurance, but it runs out fairly quickly, in terms of the money limits (it doesn't go very far).

[Link Speed]

4. My dentist said he could make my mouth just like new

For only $50-$70K

[quinnox]

5. lol, wow

I hope so, for that price!

[RC]

12. New, huh?

New mouths usually don't have any teeth in them.

[Earth_First]

6. The amount of dental work I need probably exceeds 10K...

It just isn't possible.

[duffyduff]

8. Mine's probably more than that

One broken tooth and some periodontal work.

Dental care is a national scandal.

[Earth_First]

10. Yeah, honestly...I'm not even sure.

For all I know its less. Coild be a lot more.

You are absolutely right; dental care is a scandal.

Best of luck!

[SoCalDem]

14. Heart disease is linked to dental issues...(edited to add link)

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/heart_disease/hic_oral_health_and_cardiovascular_diseases.aspx

[duffyduff]

15. Can't do one thing about it, so all of the articles in the world trying to shame me

won't do one bit of good.

[left on green only]

7. Yes, I Am Quite Sure That Most Of Them Are Hurting For Business

I got a letter from mine asking me why I haven't been in to see him in 2 years. I called his office immediately. I wanted to see how hungry he really is. Yes, they could see me on that day; but no, they still are not hard up enough to accept my now Medi-Cal insurance.

We'll see if his tune changes in, say, another 6 months, maybe.

[Mika]

11. You'll get a Chinese made prosthetic. Its ALL THE RAGE w/insurance plan dentistry.

24/7 Chinese/Wall Street venture capital labs are churning out prosthetics, and UPS FEDEX delivers overnight at a special rate for Chinese/Wall Street venture capital outsourcing labs, at about $25 per crown.

If you wait long enough you're bound to have China-made in your mouth - after the made-in-the-US dental labs are all gone.

[left on green only]

13. I Didn't Know I Needed A Prosthetic?

But that's OK. We all have our off-topic crosses to bear.

[Mika]

18. Not going to the dentist pretty much assures that you'll need a crown/bridge sometime.

It's not really off topic.

[left on green only]

25. Ah Yes

But then I never said that I am not being seen now by another dentist who does accept my insurance. There was no reason for me to include that information, because it was off topic.

Just out of curiosity, but information that is not required.....do you work in the office of a dentist?

[Mika]

38. Yes. I work in the office of a dentist.

I'm the Dr.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. My boyfriend recently received a call for the same thing.

I go every 4 months because I get a lot of build-up and I don't floss as often as I should.

The boyfriend flosses less than me and never has build-up. He doesn't schedule the next appointment while in the office so he is less than regular.

Anyway, got a call saying he needs to schedule a check-up/cleaning.

Probably related - On the last visit, the Dentist showed me his new crown machine that makes crowns in the office while you wait. He told me the gadget cost him "as much as a house".

I probably need a crown because the tooth in question is mostly filling at this point and a small chunk of the filling fell out a week after the last visit...

But here's the thing. The crown he did for me 5 years ago cost me, IIRC, less than $400 on my end. The pre-authorization came back for this one close to $1000. My income isn't 250% what it was 5 years ago.

I really want him to replace the filling which is what I did for several years before I relented on the last tooth/crown.

I can't help but feel like I am going to help pay off that fancy CNC router machine.

Not to mention the last crown entailed 17 trips to the office. Including the trip to the endodontist for a root canal AFTER the first crown was installed. Apparently all the "adjustments" damaged the nerve so we had to do the root canal and start OVER. Why we didn't start with the canal is beyond me.

I almost feel like I should price shop this guy but I really don't want to switch Drs.

I can excuse the 17 trips and do-over for the last crown because it was, as I understand, a tough tooth to do (back molar). As it stands, I still have a black spot on the crown from him having grind the tooth to get it to fit - didn't want to go for a third try.

But a 250% increase??? WTF.

[CountAllVotes]

17. My dentist's office is usually very busy

The last two times I went, no one was there.

I was told that when people have a bad tooth, they do not get a crown or a root canal, they are having them pulled instead as they have no money to pay for dentistry.

This is a serious indicator of something, something that many are ignoring and it is fairly recent too, occurring with just the past year or so.

How sad is this anyway?

& recommend.

[Demo_Chris]

19. Dental care is a luxury I wish I could afford. nt

[closeupready]

22. About 8 years ago, I needed a tooth pulled. Recently, they've been calling me,

asking me "why I haven't been back for a cleaning?" in a weird tone of voice, like they are hurt, or insulted.

That has NEVER happened to me where a specialist calls out of the blue and asks me to reschedule a check up or a cleaning. I take it from that that times are very hard for a lot of people, and they are hurting, due to the fact that they are considered a medical niche, and people are pressed for money, so dental work gets put off.

[roamer65]

24. My dentist outright told me...

that people are opting to pull teeth instead of having more expensive restorative work done. The reason was they can't afford it. He was very grateful for my business.

One thing I would recommend to people is to consider having gold crowns done for back teeth. They are the same price as the porcelain crowns but instead of lasting a few years, the gold crowns last decades.

[davidn3600]

26. There is also a newer type also made out of solid zirconia

Very strong stuff... Won't chip.

http://www.bruxzir.com/features-bruxzir-zirconia-dental-crown/

[roamer65]

31. Nice. Now I know what I'll get for my front crown.

[LibertyLover]

37. My husband just had a crown made of

zirconia done by his dentist. We made a deal. He is using the dental insurance for the next year to fix his problems, then I get to use it to fix mine, which given that I have an implant that keeps falling out and several chipped or broken teeth, is going to be expensive. And we will have to get braces for our daughter soon as well. I have a dental plan with my health insurance, but it doesn't cover a lot and it runs out quickly with what dentists charge these days. That's why we are doing the 'you use it this year, I'll use it next' plan.

[Laffy Kat]

28. This is gross, but when my gold crown had to come off for an implant,

I asked for the crown back and took it to a cash for gold place. I got $$ for it.

[roamer65]

32. It's not gross. It's being smart.

Gold is worth bucks.

[raccoon]

35. Second that about the gold crowns. Porcelain chips and as you said, doesn't last as long. nt

[bhikkhu]

27. Very true. I had a molar pulled in 2008 because I couldn't afford to have it fixed

Its easy to say its such a small thing, but losing a tooth to poverty...it weighed pretty heavy on me for awhile. Things have gotten better, and last year I had a similar problem on another tooth. It wasn't easy to afford, but I plan to live for a long time and the ability to chew food is definitely an important thing, so I had a crown done. It was worth it.

I'd almost say dental care would be more useful than medical care, but I've been lucky on the medical side so far. And signing the whole family up for affordable Obamacare very soon, after ten years without health insurance!

[raccoon]

36. I had a molar pulled in early 1990's--same reason, I couldn't afford to have it fixed. nt

[2naSalit]

29. Earlier this year I had

a little money from a worker's comp settlement and having needed a few crowns 18 months prior I decided to get them taken care of. I went to a clinic at my alma mater since they have a sliding scale fee only to find that during all the stress and pain of the WC incident and subsequent battle I had cracked four teeth (I clench them at night) which meant that I now needed seven crowns. I was able to accept the treatment plan but I had to put my vehicle in hawk with my credit union to get the majority of the funds together. I was very fortunate because I was unemployed when the "plan" was implemented so I was rated at 50% discount for all that work. It was completed in eight weeks and I am glad because I can chew on both sides of my mouth without pain now but I am unemployed once again and am scrounging for the loan payment and rent, unemployment isn't enough based on my p/t job from over a year ago.

For those afraid to go to a different Dr., just do it. You will probably find that it was a good choice. The clinic I go to is a one year residency program for recently graduated dentists. They come from the best schools as the program is highly competitive, they only accept four students each year... been going there since they opened and have never had a problem. These dentists are monitored by professionals who rotate the duty and everything is discussed with you regarding what you need and/or could do based on your ability to finance a plan and they offer alternatives. And the clinic has the latest state of the art tools and techniques... your whole chart and plan and ex-rays are all right there on a computer screen that you can see from the chair.

There are a lot of talented young dentists these days, give them a try. I get a new one every year (when I actually go) and have never had a regret.


Just sayin'.

[RZM]

33. And then Boehner tried to put it on his head n/t