fizzgig (18,758 posts) Tue Nov 5, 2013, 01:56 PM
i'm a bit of a mess today, i need some sympathy
broke a tooth on friday, went in for the temp crown today. the novocaine makes me sick to my stomach and they found not only a cavity but a sinus infection as well. and the bill was $640 with insurance.
I call bullshit.
Just took my son to the dentist to have TWO broken (baby) teeth extracted.
1) The dental profession is largely abandoning novacaine for drugs which anesthetize better and with fewer accompanying side effects. Had you been inside a dentist's office long enough for the Dentist to engage in his profession, you would know this, because instead of doing the Bill Cosby routine, they tell you what they are doing every step of the way, and why (it's another change they've made, profession wide, to try to keep the lawsuit happy idiots at bay).
2) Again, I'll see your 1 tooth extracted, and raise you two. Total cost - including what insurance is covering - for that procedure was in the neighborhood of $1,100. (total cost out of pocket was just over $100, DUmbass.) So, your $640 tab for ONE extraction doesn't make sense, unless you were doing it entirely out of pocket.
3) The charges shouldn't have come as a surprise to you, DUmbshit. There ain't a dentist within 600 miles of you that would take new patient in off the street and the first words out of his mouth is "that tooth's got to come out". Every dentist I've been to in the past 10 years (3 different states, mind you) would look at the problem, prescribe some antibiotics to kill the funk growing around the tooth, and then they'll outline a TREATMENT PLAN - INCLUDING PRICING - that will solve the problem. If you agree to the plan, they set up the appointment for the first procedure as outlined on the plan: usually 2-3 weeks out, to give the antibiotics a chance to work.
3 strikes. You lose, DUmbass. Zero bongs.
