Posted on 07/08/2011 2:19:10 PM PDT by WOBBLY BOB
Back in April I wrote about a person near and dear to me — yes, my husband — who needed two new crowns for $3,442. I published his experience in a post, Is Your Dentist Ripping You Off? Dentists howled in protest at the provocative headline, though most agreed with the content of the story.
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
I’ve had both dental insurance and dental plans.
Dental insurance stinks. It’s usually got a low cap (how far is 2K REALLY going to go in fixing up a mouth?) and NEVER have I not gotten a letter a few months later saying how the amount was figured wrong and I owe $400 or so for bad estimates, for work I already had done.
Dental plans don’t cover as much, but have no limit, you get no surprises later and they can be quite good. In Dec my son had his wisdom teeth done on one, they charged $1600 for something the lady next to me paid almost $2400 for without the plan.
They also have no wait for prexisting conditions, and cost only about 130 for a person for a year, and a little more for a family. If you look around on the net you can find a discount probably, also.
Dentalplans.com. They have saved me thousands. I highly recommend.
See my post 41
Only 1.5 hours drive from Tucson apparently.
I paid $1500 for a crown recently — two visits and the dentist did excellent work. Worth every penny IMO.
I am four weeks into Invisalign invisable braces, at a total cost of $6300. Have to wear them for 18 months.
I have two jaw teeth that have been prepped the temps are on waiting for permanent crowns—about $1975 for both.
I’ve had a bridge since 1976 that was done by a plain dentist...it outlasted him.
DH’s I know make $25.00/hr., but get no insurance or paid vacation.
Hell, that’s cheap compared to mine. I’ve had a cavity in one molar for over a year and will see it pulled before I pay to get it fixed. I realize Dentist’s have costs, but the prices are nonsense.
So no, I do not believe their overhead is up to 80% of their costs.
I always wondered what the Invisalign method cost. Thanks for sharing that. Looks way better and more comfortable than the old fashioned braces route.
All: On the crown topic. I needed 4 crowns done about 2 years ago. They were about 750 each. They are white gold, with porcelain on the outer half where they might be visible should I ever smile very very widely again (When Obummer leaves office). I have only had trouble with one of them. Seems it was too high and messed up my bite. After several tries at grinding down the crown to fit the real tooth above it, things are OK. I did have a time getting that to fit. These adjustments were free at my dentist.
I find our dental insurance to be nearly worthless.
I got zero coverage on these crowns.
I get one or 2 cleanings paid for per year.
Minimal help on an x-rays or fillings.
Our health insurance is good. Until ObummerCare kicks in fully that is. I pray we can turn that ship around before The Won takes away my good healthcare. My doctor has already quit. But I was still able to get a new one within the same clinic that I like (I like the clinic and the new doc). May Obummer rot in hell for ruining every aspect of American life. Sorry, that was the start of a rant....won’t put you all through that.
In the case of a denture the Doc or more likely the assistant will take an impression and then run the model and send it to the lab. They will fabricate a baseplate and “bite block”. It comes back to the office where the Doc will spend a good 10 to 15 minutes establishing the correct vertical, chose the correct blend of color/shade of the teeth to be used and the correct angle of posterior teeth to be used and it goes back to the lab. The lab sets up the teeth in a wax matrix and sends them back to the office where the Doc tries them in and corrects the vertical, if needed or take a secondary impression in the baseplate and back to the lab for processing.
A good lab will charge about $150 per unit, porcelain fused to non-precious metal. Precious metal full crowns cost the same + the cost of the metal. A single denture using the best acrylic and the very best teeth will cost about $165.
I’m gonna cry. I just shelved out 5 grand for teeth whitening/porcelain crowns.
I believe that Invisalign generally costs around $500 more than traditional metal braces.
It’s true that it depends (greatly) on the dentist, but the dentist is also a part of the dental culture. The dental culture is influenced by a lot by the local professional schools, to a some extent by the local professional associations especially continuing ed (imo), but most importantly by the expectations of the local market.
Thank you for your direct personal experiences, mine were indirect observations, fwtw.
Well worth the extra cost.
If I needed braces, I’d get the invisalign too.
I have a relative who got an estimate of $60K for total dental implants in Colorado Springs. I recommended she go to Algodones, Mexico, outside of Yuma and for $9,800 she had a total implantation. Everything is perfect.
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