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Dental Insurance Waiting Period Details

stewiethegreat — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:14:54 -0800

Another Dental Insurance Question: My Delta Dental starts on Sept. 1st, but they won't cover fillings until Mar. 1. What happens if I have a filling done before Mar. 1? Obviously, they're not going to cover it, but would I still be able to get Delta's negotiated rate with my dentist? Would Delta pay the dentist and then invoice me to reimburse them? Would I be making life unreasonably difficult for my dentist if I did it this way?

Thanks!

Chip off the ol' molar

Riki tiki — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:00:53 -0800

How worried should I be about my chipped tooth? So I found this previous question, which is almost tailor-made to my situation as of tonight. I'll be following the "don't sweat it, maybe get some over-the-counter temporary filling" advice from that thread, so I'm less panicked about that than I was earlier tonight.

However, I am concerned about why it chipped. There was no impact, no particularly hard food that caused it. I was just flossing back there, felt a little snag and assumed it was a piece of food, and came back instead with two prongs of my top right molar. I have no pain or anything like that and my teeth look more or less fine, but is it possible that the looks are deceiving and my teeth are about to fall out en masse due to some unnoticed systemic decay?

I exaggerate a bit, but I am troubled. I'm currently without dental insurance, haven't been to a dentist in two+ years, and not in an awesome financial position to have to take on a bunch of medical bills.

Do I need to bite the bullet (not literally) and make an appointment even if it means my credit cards will have to wait a while longer to be paid off? Or is this something I can put a band-aid on (not literally) and postpone until I hopefully find a job with dental benefits in the nearish future?

never trust anyone with bad teeth

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:35:26 -0800

I have a carny mouth. Should I get dental insurance before I decide to take care of it? No pain, but several cavities and a few teeth (including two wisdom teeth) have been rotting and falling apart for several years. 4-6 years ago, a dental school said that it would cost 4-5 thousand dollars and take 3-4 visits to fix. That doesn't include getting them whitened or anything cosmetic. Today, one of my molars broke in half and I swallowed it with some wasabi trail mix. That tooth only had a little speck of a cavity yesterday. I'm willing to wait another 6 months or whatever it takes IF IF IF insurance will make it so much less expensive that I can risk losing even more teeth. I am starting to fear that more teeth will fall apart if I wait too long.

I do brush my teeth and don't need to be lectured on prevention; please try to be sensitive. I had some mental problems in my youth, forgot about basic hygiene, and still haven't fixed the havoc it wrecked on my teeth, so the cavities keep getting worse and worse.

I am in Florida and have basic medicaid, but it only covers emergencies and might not even be good anymore. As I've had only minimal pain for the past few years, I've never bothered seeking treatment for emergencies. Recently, I did try calling all of the oral surgeons listed in my area, as I was directed to do, but found that none of them take medicaid anymore.

Any advice is welcome. I want to remain anonymous, but will try to answer questions through mathowie or jessamyn.

Thank you.

Go to an out-of-network good dentist, or in-network dental factory?

schmoppa — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:27:15 -0800

New cavities and replacing old amalgam fillings filter: go to a good dentist who isn't in-network and to whom I'd pay up to $1000 out of pocket, or go to one of those in-network dental factories? I saw this out-of-network dentist for the first time today for a checkup. It had been a few years since my last appointment.

He seemed good... at least according to his thoroughness and gadgets. He has a digital x-ray machine, and some laser poker that can tell how much decay is in a tooth based on its reflectivity.

He found some cavities with the laser poker (corroborated somewhat by the x-rays). A couple were spots of decay underneath old amalgam fillings that he says generally do not provide a seal, and thus allow bacteria to get underneath.

Another was a tooth that didn't look like there was a cavity externally but he could tell from the laser poker + xray.

It's about $2200 quoted from the dentist for redoing all my amalgam fillings and fixing the new cavities. Delta Dental can only say today that they'll pay between 33% and 53% of the procedures' costs; they don't have an exact fee schedule down for this dentist because he's out of network.

To be honest, I don't know for sure whether this guy is that much better than one of the "dental factory" dentists.

gah!

Thoughts?

Is there a dentist in the house?

allen8219 — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:53:49 -0800

Can you please recommend a dentist in Washington DC? I am almost certainly going to need a couple fillings, or maybe root canals, so I want to make sure I've got the right dentist for the job! I have really neglected my teeth for the past two years, for a variety of reasons (psychological, financial, idiotic), and it has finally caught up with me. I am getting twinges of pain from two back molars, and I know that I had some decay there like two years ago... so I am afraid of what's actually going on with them.

Anyway, the good news is I have a job, and dental insurance. The insurance is CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, and will pay $1000 toward the bill, so if possible I would definitely like to take advantage of that.

Ugh. There is really nothing better for making you feel like a moron, than facing thousands of dollars in dental bills because you can't get it together enough to brush your teeth.

Thanks very much in advance, I really appreciate it.

No one likes Cigna DMO. :o(

acorn1515 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:39:28 -0800

Help me escape the clutches of my Russian dentist -- who do you recommend as a general dentist in midtown Manhattan? I've already checked out previous posts here recommending Dr. Lantner, Dr. Deidan and Dr. Wong, but none of them take Cigna DMO.

The last time I randomly selected a dentist from the provider list, the office ended up being a sketchy half dentist office/talent agency, where only after he started drilling (for what I was told was a routine filling) did the dentist inform me that he was putting on a temporary patch, and that I needed to get a root canal. And the dental hygienists only spoke Russian -- I felt like Elaine in that episode of "Seinfeld" where she's in the Korean nail salon.

Any recommendations in midtown? A search for dentist, of the 10036 zip (where my office is located), for CIGNA DHMO turned up Drs. Krasnov, Gulbenkian, and Klein,
as well as several docs with the Group Health Dental Facility, and the Ferreira Dental Group, among others.

Has anyone used Careington Dental plan, or something comparable?

nitsuj — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:01:46 -0800

Has anyone used Careington Dental plan, or something comparable? My girlfriend and I are looking to get some basic work done on our teeth. We don't have insurance, so are looking at using a dental plan of some sort. Does anyone have any experience with Careington?

They offer a $6.95 per month plan that gets you great rates on lots of procedures. Too good to be true?

It doesn't seem like full dental insurance would make sense for us, since we rarely have work done.

This is in the United States.

Dental insurance in Colorado

attercoppe — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:40:16 -0800

Cheap, low deductible dental insurance in SW Colorado? My fiancee is gettting a health insurance stipend at her new job. She'd like to get some dental work done (cleaning, about 8 fillings replaced, wisdom teeth pulled, and a recurring infection looked at - root canal? (eek!)) before we get married and go away for a while. Is there such a thing as cheap, (relatively) low-deductible short-term dental insurance, available (meaning someone nearby accepts it) in or near Teluride Colorado? Or would it be just as cheap and/or easy to simply pay for the work?

Arranging massive dental surgery in a hurry, while self-employed

jake — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 13:47:10 -0800

How do I proceed with my unpleasant dental / periodontal situation? I have a 6-element frontal fixed bridge that was installed after an accident in 2002 that is in .. bad shape. (I know there are many many dental-without-insurance questions here, and I've read every single one of them already, and they helped a lot. But this one involves a huge amount of work and I'm trying to reason out the best way to proceed)

I have utterly failed to jam floss threaders under my bridge every day, or even use a Water-Pik. I haven't been to a dentist in 5 years - I've only brushed and used Listerine a few times a day. It's bleeding nightly and I finally woke up with an abscess/blister behind my front teeth. Can't eat solid food.

The same neglect/infection scenario played out after my (bike) accident, leading to 2 extractions, 2 root canals and a permanent bridge. So I know the symptoms and roughly what to expect, though I obviously didn't learn my lesson.

So, I'm:
1) Taking ibuprofen and swishing warm saltwater
2) Calling a dentist or clinic on Monday for an antibiotic script
3) Frantically investigating dental discount plans
4) Thinking about marrying my fiancee to get on her benefits
5) Looking for a nice dental surgeon here in Northern New Jersey who is flexible with payment plans

I'm terrified about going to a Dental School as most people suggest, because after my accident, I actually tried it (in Miami) - even in just the exam they were clumsy and rough in a noisy environment, and it was extremely uncomfortable. I'm a pretty tough guy, but this was pushing it. I'm hesitant to try again, but at this point I'm open to anything.

So I had ended up going to our family cosmetic/reconstructive dentist, who put me under nitrous and had a silken touch. To the extent that this sort of thing can possibly be "pleasant", it was. But it cost $9,000, and my grandfather helped, bless his soul.

This time around, I'm living with my fiancee. She is willing to get married in court now and have the ceremony later, just to have me under her benefits. I don't want to kiss ANYONE under these conditions, but it probably beats being widowed to sepsis.

From what I've seen, though, dental insurance sucks for large things like this - paying only $1500 or $2000 total, and giving a hard time over pre-existing conditions. There are tons of non-insurance discount plans out there, but it's hard to find neutral viewpoints since they tend to be hard-sells full of fine print. So if anyone has experience with them, that would help a lot.

Basically, I have a few ways to proceed here, and want to plan a smart route with as few compromises as possible. I have a decent income, but not so decent that I could just laugh off $10k on short notice.

Thanks for reading - I will be very grateful for advice.

Medical bill arrives with charges that I wasn't told about before treatment; can I argue against paying?

inatizzy — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 21:48:02 -0800

My dentist has sent me a bill for work done during two visits over the past couple of months; I thought that my insurance was covering everything, and my dentist's office never told me that I would be charged personally. I would like to dispute the charges; do I have a leg to stand on? The details: I went in for a regular appt in December and had the standard cleaning, xrays, and checkup by the dentist. The appointment had been scheduled by the office manager at the end of my last checkup 6 months prior. I assumed that it was all part of my dental coverage from my dental insurance. I didn't pay anything during the visit, which is normal, because in the past my insurance has covered the checkups.

I went back a week or so ago to get a cavity filled, and I was a little surprised at the end to learn that I had to pay a copay. But I let it roll off my back because the copay isn't very high and it wouldn't be worth arguing. I asked the office manager if I'd have to pay anything else and she said she didn't know, but if anything it'd probably be only a little more because of the way insurance companies usually treat fillings.

Today I come home to find a bill from my dentist for about $200, a combination of charges from both visits that apparently weren't covered by my insurance. (The vast majority is from the latter appointment, when I got the filling.)

I'm upset because I was never told that I would be charged for these services, and had I known, I would've thought differently about choosing which services to receive. For example, I would've turned down the Xrays at my checkup, since they took them last time and I know that you don't need to get them every visit. But the dental assistant had been ready to go with them and 1) never told me they'd cost extra, and 2) didn't even give me a choice to turn them down.

As for the latter appointment, if I'd known that my filling would cost $200 I would have looked into a less expensive solution, or at least a different dentist where I could pay less.

I'm quite upset because I feel like they took advantage of me by not being up front with these charges. I don't deny that I could've prevented this by asking them about it before I let them do anything, but I'd never been charged before and I trusted them to tell me if things would be different. I'd been given no reason to expect that I would be charged.

I'd like to write them a letter explaining my stance and asking them to strike the charges from my record, in addition to telling them that in the future I will require them to give me advance notice of all 'personal' charges that I may be subject to, so that I can make an informed decision about those services.

Do I have a leg to stand on here? Can I really hope that they will wipe the charges? Am I approaching this the right way? I'm new to all of this stuff and I'm not sure what I can really expect. Thank you in advance for your advice.

How can I find a dentist for my boyfriend who has no insurance and is terrified of dentists?

agregoli — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 09:26:14 -0800

My boyfriend needs to go to the dentist. He recently chipped a tooth, and hasn't been in ages. The problem is two-fold: One, he's TERRIFIED of going, especially because of his long time away from the dentist, and because of deep-rooted fear of the dentist and two, he has no dental insurance. He's agreed to go if I can find a dentist that will accept him without insurance and I go with him to hold his hand. How do I find a dentist that will see him without insurance and will be accomodating to his fears? 1-800-dentist seems secretive at how they arrive at their recommendations.