Can you negotiate with Dentists?

[spaceman]

i have two small cavities that need filling, usually the fees are on a chart and seem fixed, think i could work a deal out with my dentist?
or would i look like a slime bag for doing so?
(no i do not have dental insurance,so this will be out of pocket)

 

[freebee]

since you don't have insurance....not really. Since i had a dishonest dentist (who would make false ins. claims)...i always got the best treatment since even on a checkup he got paid hundreds of dollars by filing for services he never performed.

Oh the other hand, a friend of mine who goes to thes same dentist would get shoddy treatment because he had no insurance and paid in cash. Basically they did the front half of his teeth, pretended to do the back half, no buffing or waxing (whatever that polishing thing is called), minimal time spent working all the teeth with the pick, etc.

Plus little things like, i got some listerine in my rinse water, he just gets plain water. I can tell the dentist what angle i want my chair, the dentist just ignores him.

 

[spaceman]

i dont see why insurance would give preferenial treatment.
cash is king, no forms, no bs.
im going to say to my dentists heres $700 make me look like erik estrada

 

[Lvis]

I was having some expensive work done last fall, $2K( a bridge ) And the dentist replaced a leaking filling at the same time. He didn't use novacaine, didn't dirty a tool he hadn't already used, and took about 4 minutes of his time.... and charged me $75 .

I should have gone to dental school. What a life. NONE of them work more the four days a week.

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: L vis
I was having some expensive work done last fall, $2K( a bridge ) And the dentist replaced a leaking filling at the same time. He didn't use novacaine, didn't dirty a tool he hadn't already used, and took about 4 minutes of his time.... and charged me $75 .

I should have gone to dental school. What a life. NONE of them work more the four days a week.

yet dont they have the highest suicide rate per profession?

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: ncircle
i dont see why insurance would give preferenial treatment.
cash is king, no forms, no bs.
im going to say to my dentists heres $700 make me look like erik estrada

No, his dentist was doing a cleaning then telling his insurance company he filled cavities, so he got the extra cash for nothing, his cash paying friend on the other hand could say, hey you didn't fill any cavities, as he was paying up front with cash.

 

[tec699]

ncircle..

See if your dentist will allow you to make monthly payments. Since your bill is $700, work out a monthly payment plan. Say like $100 a month. My dentist will do this for me, as I've done this before. you need to ask though.

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: tec699
ncircle..

See if your dentist will allow you to make monthly payments. Since your bill is $700, work out a monthly payment plan. Say like $100 a month. My dentist will do this for me, as I've done this before. you need to ask though.

im tired of payment plans.
got me in the hole with a dentist that butchered me a couple years ago.
thats precisely why i want to go inm with x amount of dollars, say this is what i have, this is what i need done.

 

[Growltiger]

Originally posted by: tec699
ncircle.. See if your dentist will allow you to make monthly payments. Since your bill is $700, work out a monthly payment plan. Say like $100 a month. My dentist will do this for me, as I've done this before. you need to ask though.

This is sound advice. I worked at a Dr's office hadling insurance and billing. The Doc was more than willing to help her patients out by allowing them to make payments on their bills. The fees for service, however, were non-negotiable, which I completely understand. What a physician do is downgrade the level of your visit (Levels 1-5, where 1 is the lowest and each is based on time spent w/ the patient and the amount of care/treatment/diagnosis provided) so you can pay a lower price. Hopefully, there is some way for the dentist to do the same


EDIT: Just saw your reply. Do you have a dentistry school near you? If so, you can go there and get your work done for a low price...if you don't mind some newb messing with your teeth

 

[Kevin]

Dentists are full of sh-t. You walk in feeling fine and you walk out with 2 supposed cavities. I think they're all crooks but I still go twice a year...

 

[NetworkDad]

I dont know if they have a dental school in your area or not, but i live in the Portland, OR area (OHSU), and when we were kids, my mom would take us there to save quite a bit of costs for dental work.

The students do work on you, but they were quite advanced, and always had to have a certified dentist next to them at all times..

Maybe this is a solution for your cash flow ?