Wow. This blog may be a little gross and a few things I’m embarrassed to admit, but I think it needs to be shared.
EP and I are self employed. Medical benefits for self-employed people are not good. Period end of story. I could do an entire blog on how we have been hurt financially in the last 4 years by our medical insurance. Insane premiums, high deductibles and horrible coverage. Obviously, dental insurance is something we don’t have. We’ve spent the last four years paying off speech therapy, root canal/crown, and having a baby with our midwife all cash out of our pocket. Needless to say, some things go on the back burner…like oral care (ugh, ate to admit this!!).
I will openly and shamefully admit that it has been almost 4 years since I’ve had my teeth cleaned. I’ve gone to the dentist, just not cleaned. That almost $200 was always better spent somewhere else. A month or so ago EP and I decided we needed to stop neglecting our teeth and set a good example for our kids. I started looking into dental benefit plans that reduce the cost of your services. (www.dentalplans.com) ANYWAY, the very day I was about to purchase a plan that our dentist uses a “deal” comes up on google reader from Groupon.
Local NICE dental office: $50 cleaning, xrays, and exam. Score. I buy three: Me, EP and Stunt Boy. I call and get us appointments right away.
Stunt Boy goes in and does AWESOME. See here
The next day is my appointment. They got ready to clean my teeth after x-rays then told me I had gum disease and that they would not be able to clean my teeth until I recieved gum therapy. They also threw in that I needed four surface level fillings. Now, I know its been four years, but gum disease, really? Wouldn’t we have seen evidence of this when I was in last year (when I had a root canal)? How could I go from healthy gums to needing immediate treatment in a year??
They ask if they could schedule me for the next day. Umm…no. I said I needed to sit down and find out the cost of everything and then take it to my husband to discuss before moving forward. I’m taken to a room and a lady comes in, sits down with a sheet of paper upside down, and starts telling me about financing options and why I need this procedure. I polietly ask to cut to the chase…
$2700!!! Gum therapy/cleaning, 4 fillings and oral cancer screening
But, wait it gets better. If I sign up for their $300 (per person) benefit program it will take 30% off. So, my procedure total becomes $1900 but I still have to pay the $300 so really the whole thing was still going to cost $2200. AND they’ll get me no interest for 1 year financing (lucky me!). Hard sell, too.
Now, I know me and I’m thinking there is just no way! I asked for my xrays (an additional $20) and said I’d be getting a second opinion.
I went to the dentist (my old dentist) this morning. Told her the story. She told me it was very rare for a non-smoking young person like me to need perio scaling (?) on all four quadrants. She takes a look an says, “Do your gums bleed from brushing?” Me, “no.” Few other tests…NO gum disease treatment needed. In fact, she said my gums looked swollen due to not having been cleaned in 4 years but nothing else. And only TWO fillings.
So after getting a consult, cleaning and fillings $400. For full disclosure lets throw in the $140 for 15 months FAMILY dental benefit plan I purchased. Total: $540
OMWord!!!! That’s at least a $2000 difference.
I’m sharing this horribly embarrassing story for a reason. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. Many drs today know we aren’t going to go get the other opinion and are taking advantage. I was completely sold that I needed this therapy and that my teeth were going to rot and fall out (seriously, I felt like a kid being lectured). Now I know, while they aren’t in the best condition, I can get my gums healthy again without all the expensive treatments.
Hey, we don’t have insurance right now, and I NEED to get to the dentist. I haven’t even been in over…ten…years.
And now I’m terrified.
That totally sounds like a scam! They do the “deals” and then refuse to treat adults without lots of other expensive (and unnecessary) treatments! I’d be interested to see if they do the same thing to Chad if/when he goes in for his! I hate the whole dental industry.
glad you got a 2nd opinion. do you use a sonicare toothbrush? they’re pricey but so worth it. one literally brought my brother back from the brink of gum disease.
What a SCAM!! I cannot believe people have the guts to do that kind of thing. I would be pretty livid, did you go back up there and tell them that you are reporting them to the ADA or something? Or Channel 8 news. Ridiculous. Reminds me when I was prego with C and I got TERRIBLE sciatica, went to this chiro who did the same “back room” approach and tried to tell me I needed to commit to coming 20 more times over the rest of my pregnancy (only 3 mo left so over 6x a month!) at a whopping cost of $2k. This was the only way I would ‘regain the former use of my back.’ When I tried to leave, they came back and said if I signed right then they would take off $300. I felt like I was buying some sleazy used car or something!!
I’m glad you got the second opinion and saved yourself some grief and some money.
Don’t feel bad about the delay. I went TEN YEARS between seeing a dentist. When I was 18, a dentist drilled on a tooth despite me telling him I could feel the drill. He shushed me, hit a nerve, and then found my hand on his throat. After that experience, I avoided the dentist for 10 years. I’ve always taken very good care of my teeth, and, as a result, didn’t have a single cavity or issue during that time. Lucky me . . . right? Anywho – you got company with the whole don’t-like-going-to-the-dentist crowd.