Dental Rant

Why is it that dental work is so expensive!

I went to the dentist today since I have a bad infection. I need to have all my bottom teeth pulled and most of my upper teeth. My insurance will only cover $1000 per year. That leaves about $3000 that I will need to pay! I cannot afford that!

But it needs to be done. I will have it done as I can afford it. But why does it need to be so expensive!

At least the antibiotics were affordable. Less than $5.

Don't even get me started! I had to have a tooth pulled - then couldn't afford the post. It went long enough they had to remove some of my gum to get the post in, and now it's all just a pain in the butt.

you won't be in too much pain before (and after!) you can afford it all.

Laurie

Originally Posted by Catkiki

But it needs to be done.

Click to expand...

I think that's why it's expensive! Dental health is pretty important, and people will pay to have stuff done.

My other guess is that dental school and insurance (dentist having insurance for his/her practice) are both expensive too?

Mmm...I've had two, (may end up being three), root canals plus a current infection and have zero insurance...The bills keep piling up...

I've gotten to the point where I've stopped worrying about it, because there is nothing at all I can possibly do, and it won't kill me to be in debt for awhile.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Our dental insurance maxes out at $1000 a year. On big jobs (root canal, crown) they only cover 50%. I would love to speak to insurance big-shots everywhere and tell them "People don't go to the dentist because they enjoy it, they go out of necessity!" I can understand that insurance doesn't want to cover cosmetic procedures, and I don't think that they should. But if I NEED work done, $1000 isn't going to remotely cover it.
Just last year DH needed a crown, DD needed a crown, and I needed (gulp) 4 crowns. I'm still trying to pay for those, and now DH discovered he has a cracked tooth that needs---guess what---a crown! I'll be paying the dentist forever.

I agree about the high cost of dental work. Before I had dental insurance, it really cost me a fortune. My pet peeve is about all the dentists around here being closed on Friday. I don't know if it's regional or if they do this everywhere. They don't do that in doctor's offices here. Jealously is an ugly thing .

I know exactly what you're talking about, it's just ridiculous.

DH had an infection and got sent to a specialist, which cost us $150 just to look at it. Then they told him how many thousands of dollars it would cost to have a root canal, and then no guarantee that would even work and he might have to eventually have it pulled anyway! At this point, it doesn't hurt any more after the antibiotics, so he's taking a "wait and see" approach. If it gets infected again, he's just going to have it pulled and skip the root canal stuff. Fortunately, it's in the back, so he won't have to worry about a replacement.

One time I went to look into implants and was told it would be over $20,000. Needless to say, I do not have implants.

I hope everything works out for you

Yes, dental work is expensive! Many dentists charge up the wazoo! Here in Mich, many of them are hurting b/c people can't afford the work so they aren't having it done. I just had a crown put in. Ins. covered half. So it was $400 out of pocket, adding to my debt load. But my dentist did cut his price for me... he offered w/o me asking b/c he knows what's going on ... so it would have been even more ....

I agree that the cost of dental work is expensive and a lot of the insurance that is provided for it is inadequate. I ran into a problem a couple of years ago when I had some work done on mine. I have a chronic problem with gritting my teeth which over the years has worn the backs of my front teeth very thin. The dentist finally said that I had to have them reconstructed or capped to prevent any further damage. This process cost close to $4000 to have done and was considered by the insurance company as cosmetic rather then essential. Which was stupid because if I had not had it done I was looking at some major damage, infections, etc etc....

The maximums on dental insurance are way too low.

I know how you feel. I had my three remaining wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon on April 30. Luckily, we pay for the top dental package through work, so insurance covered a good portion. Our out of pocket cost for having two impacted bottom and one non-impacted top wisdom teeth was only $600.

Then there's our dentist. He's out of network (so insurance doesn't cover as much), but we're eating the cost because he's just that good. He has taught me a lot about my TMJ, and how it affects the rest of my health (migraines in particular). He's the first dentist we've had in years that hasn't given me an inventory of what fillings he wants replaced. :/ "If it doesn't bother you, why mess with it?" is his motto.

It's frustrating that it's a necessary evil, but at this point in my life I have to remind myself that my parents spent a good fortune on my teeth as a child...I shouldn't ruin my teeth now.