Dental rant and insurance

**Palooka** · 08-03-2007, 12:06 AM

How the freak can one tooth cost like over a thousand bucks? I am talking around 800 for the root canal and around 900 for a crown. this is without insurance. Now our dental insurance will kick in next month only paying maybe 50% to 80% So do the math and we will still be broke.... Or I could just have that tooth pulled.

I mean, I will admit that I don't floss daily, but this was my checkup today.. 92 bucks for her to tell me that!! And oh I have some other minor work that should be around 400.

I tell ya.. I get so mad at insurance and just health care in general. I can not believe the bills I am stuck with just after my delivery. And we did have good health insurance.

How can just the average families pay all the premiums in health insurance and still get slammed. I mean just to keep up with?

Anyone want to rant, share, or even a story?

**annymoll** · 08-03-2007, 12:31 AM

Technology is becoming more and more advanced. Everyone wants the benefit, but it can be quite costly for business and consumer.(Used to be a tooth like that WAS just pulled.)I can't complain at all, even when it hits my pocketbook. I feel lucky to have healthcare. I feel lucky to have dental treatment available. In some areas, people are not so fortunate.

**Palooka** · 08-03-2007, 12:57 AM

Originally Posted by annymoll

Technology is becoming more and more advanced. Everyone wants the benefit, but it can be quite costly for business and consumer.(Used to be a tooth like that WAS just pulled.)I can't complain at all, even when it hits my pocketbook. I feel lucky to have healthcare. I feel lucky to have dental treatment available. In some areas, people are not so fortunate.

Oh trust me, I do feel 'lucky' for health/dental insurance. But I would feel more special if insurance was not such a rip off, really, for the average joe. At least here in the US.

I mean I am paying like some doctor bills, 15 bucks, 50 bucks a month etc. I don't think they can do anything if you are paying a small amount every month? I think... That is just what we will have to do... That really is are only choice. I also don't think that they can draw interest if you are paying on something. It just sucks for the amount taken out of our check, verses what we have to pay back in again.

**annymoll** · 08-03-2007, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

Oh trust me, I do feel 'lucky' for health/dental insurance. But I would feel more special if insurance was not such a rip off, really, for the average joe. At least here in the US.

I mean I am paying like some doctor bills, 15 bucks, 50 bucks a month etc. I don't think they can do anything if you are paying a small amount every month? I think... That is just what we will have to do... That really is are only choice. I also don't think that they can draw interest if you are paying on something. It just sucks for the amount taken out of our check, verses what we have to pay back in again.

I understand. Money can be tight.I still feel our country is blessed.I have travelled out of the country to areas where health services were not available, or were very limited.I came back with the feeling that God has indeed shed grace upon us.Just pay what you can, faithfully and timely.Little steps equal great strides. It will get you where you are going. Don't give up. I always like to read about your life. You seem to be such a wonderful mom and wife.

**HandyMom** · 08-03-2007, 01:33 AM

I haven't been to a dentist in over 15 years. There are plenty of dentists available but since I can't afford them, they may as well not exist to me.

**Palooka** · 08-03-2007, 02:04 AM

I hear ya Handymom. But one thing ( I love my dentist, we grew up together. lol, but she still bills me

) is that she said that if their is a dental school here and that might be an option. sp. That is something you might check into. Heck, I might have too.

That is something I forgot to add in my first post. Has anyone been to a dental school for a cheaper rate and giving the students a good learning opertunity? Sp I know when I went to hair school I was glad for the "guiny pigs" (sp) Well that is slightly different. lol. Just asking. :p

**Palooka** · 08-03-2007, 02:16 AM

Originally Posted by annymoll

I understand. Money can be tight.I still feel our country is blessed.I have travelled out of the country to areas where health services were not available, or were very limited.I came back with the feeling that God has indeed shed grace upon us.Just pay what you can, faithfully and timely.Little steps equal great strides. It will get you where you are going. Don't give up. I always like to read about your life. You seem to be such a wonderful mom and wife.

You must be a republican.

Okay, that was a joke.

That is funny that you said you like to read about my life. I really don't post too much hear. I always thought I was boring reading material. lol

Off to take some cheap Ibuprofen 200 mg's cause that is what I can afford at the moment.

**annymoll** · 08-03-2007, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

You must be a republican.

Okay, that was a joke.

That is funny that you said you like to read about my life. I really don't post too much hear. I always thought I was boring reading material. lol

Off to take some cheap Ibuprofen 200 mg's cause that is what I can afford at the moment.

Everyone's story is interesting.Dental schools will accept certain clients at reduced price. I think in some rural areas there is a mobile dental clinic that comes around as well.You can call the school to find out.Hope you feel better soon.(If you went to school with your dentist and were friends maybe she would barter some of her work in return for a service you could provide. It's worth a shot.)

**latierra84** · 08-03-2007, 09:23 AM

ugh when it comes to dental.

i have ZERO dental insurance. ok wait, let me go into my story a little bit. we couldnt afford dental anything when we were growing up. i got braces in seventh grade but along with the mortgage/bills/tuition (db and i went to less than stellar inner city private school because the ISD in our area basically guarenteed teenage pregnancy, drug use, and or gang involvement). and so money was tight seeing as she was single. we never went to bed hungry, she was always around to take up to school and pick us up, and we may not have had tons of clothes, but what we did have was neat and clean.

anyways.. things like dental checkups were non-existant for us. so seventh grade, i get braces because my teeth are just... lets say very very crooked, and it was (i remember to this day) $98 for my month visit to get them tighten and things like that. after about a year and a half, we just couldnt get the $98 out of our budget. DM had to pull one of us out of school and send my brother to the local ISD high school to help cover bills. --(long story short, he dropped out. personality completely changed after a few months of being in the "new" ISD school. drug use started. his anger management issues escalated. was rushed to the hospital on an almost month basis because of blood alcohol levels *he would ditch school and drink all day with "friends" and we'd find random "friends" of his at our house all the time. ugh.. its a long story) ANYWAYS.......

we couldnt afford the braces anymore and so they stayed on my teeth for nearly another year before i was able to see a dentist about getting them off. lucky for me, i hadnt lost any bracketts or anything. no way we could afford for me to see someone locally so my dad and i went to mexico (i know how that must sound but.. my parents are mexican so.. going to mexico for dental work, surgery, medicine that is too $ here, is a very normal thing for us.. plus.. i dont worry about the mexican doctors and pharmacies trying to rip us off because we go way past the border where "americans" go and get their rx's. plus.. we're mexican. or at least my parents are mexican so.. they dont assume that we're tourists or "rich americans" and they wont up the price with us. we've seen them do it though!

ugh wow. anyways.. im going on and on. um, finally got the braces off and boy was i glad BUT!

i am now 22 and i have AWFUL teeth. they are my worst feature. DH was my only bf and i didnt meet him until i was 19. before then, no way would i talk to boys/guys. i was/am so embarrassed of my teeth. i hear people say.. oh but thats just a cosmetic quality and you shouldnt worry about it. but theyre not the ones who have to walk around with my set in their mouths. this is embarrassing and a little hard to share but my teeth are SO discolored that it makes me cry. they have shifted very badly since my braces since.. i didnt finish with them completely to begin with and i never wore a retainer. i have several problem teeth that hurt, and are basically rotting away and i dont know what to do about them. i feel so ashamed of them and thinking about going to a dentist now makes me so nervous and afraid. afraid of what he'll/or she'll say, or think about my mouth.. like.. oh wow, how could she have let it get to this point, i've got to take a picture of this one.. things like that.

i wish and wish and wish that i could get on one of those extreme makeover shows and have them do a complete mouth restoration. my mom says that everyone in our family has bad teeth but that of course doesnt make me feel any better. i have teeth that are literally rotting away in my mouth, already above the gum line. the pain and embarrassment (especially living in today's society) its just too much sometimes.

DH tries to make me feel better about it and says that his teeth are worse. NOT TRUE. IM NOT BLIND is what i want to say to him sometimes, but i know that he's just trying to make me feel better and not worry about it.

its gotten to the point where i think.. ok, a restoration for me would be anywhere from 30 to 60 grand. would i be willing to spend that on my smile??

YES!

i havent done it yet. im afraid. plus... i need to take care of a few other things first (savings, buying our own home... etc) but, what this was all about in the beginning... we had no dental ins as kids, the dental at my job SUCKS and really only covers cleanings. i am so very grateful i have medical coverage. in fact i'll be taking advantage of that today (im seeing a nutritionist! kinda excited) and sunday (my third followup on my eye ulcer. yucky)

i could write a book, i swear!

**YankeeMom** · 08-03-2007, 10:09 AM

I hear ya. We pay three times as much for our dental insurance ($100/month before co-pays) as we do for our health insurance ($465/YEAR before co-pays) and the dental doesn't cover nearly as much as the health insurance does. My root canals run around $350-400, crowns about $500-600. Which is why I have three root canals (desperately needed) and no crowns only temporary fills. My root canals are because we had well water (no flouride) when I was a kid.

**lisettelovebug** · 08-03-2007, 05:02 PM

I'm lucky to have dental through dh's work now. When I was growing up my parents were poor and didn't have dental insurance, so needless to say we didn't go. I didn't go to the dentist until about 2 years ago. Dh talked me into it before we got married - even though I din't have insurance. I knew I needed to go ... we ended up making payments on the cleaning (about$90) and then I had to have 3 fillings ($300). I couldn't believe I only had 3 cavities after 28 years of never seeing a dentist. I do have a little bit of gum problems but I'm working on that. Otherwise my teeth are in good shape. I contribute that to the fact that the town's water had fluoride. Do you know, the town we live in now has been debating putting fluoride in the water for the last year!! Next time we go to dentist I'm going to talk to dentist about flouride - at least for our 9 year old for now.
Lisette

**Missy** · 08-03-2007, 05:39 PM

I have a ton of broken teeth. As awful as it sounds, at leas tthey are my back teeth, so no one notices. and i have learned to deal with the ow of it. three of them no longer hurt. they've been broken for over a year. the newest broken one doesn't hurt bad either.

just one of the things i can't afford to go deal with right now.

**YankeeMom** · 08-03-2007, 05:42 PM

Same here Missy. Earlier in the year, one of my back molars broke....eating a jellybean of all things

**baxjul** · 08-03-2007, 05:58 PM

I have a back tooth that needs pulled right now, no insurance. I've just been downing the pain pills, waiting....

**bevjean** · 08-03-2007, 06:38 PM

We have dental insurance and still had to pay out $1400 yesterday. My hubby had two root canals, plus he had a rotten tooth built up, and is scheduled to have a couple of crowns put in. And....after all of that is done he still needs more work. Once we get him finished, we'll start on me. Mine aren't great but at least they aren't killing me.