Yet another, is my dentist ripping me off, thread

[AznAnarchy99]

First off I will say I am not the greatest at brushing my teeth twice a day. I usually do it once and I usually floss every 2-3 days.

So I went to a new dentist, who was recommended to me by a friend, for a normal cleaning today. (Yelp reviews are relatively good too) They did their standard x-ray, check up etc. X-Ray and all of that was fine, no cavities but then they did a gum probe. Basically the told me I had a few 6's (millimeter gaps) in some of my back teeth. They told me I would need a deep cleaning and antibiotics for those teeth.

Well the quoted me the bill and it was $1820. My insurance would cover $1166 (out of my $1500 yearly limit) and I would pay $654 out of pocket.

Is it me or does that sound way expensive? I was planning to use my yearly limit to remove my last two wisdom teeth (which would be about $700) so this would throw a crutch into it. I've had that same probe before and after a cleaning and taking care of my teeth the gaps reduced. Do I really need to do this? From a few sites I read online most people who do this have gum disease and show some bone damage in the X-Ray. I had none of that and no history of that.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

dude you have to brush minimum two

 

[Mai72]

$1820 for a deep clean and antibiotics?

I'm not trying to compare my situation in Bangkok, Thailand to your position in the states, but I think it's worth mentioning. I had a deep clean and it cost me $80 USD. I came in again to begin my root canal. Four visits and a new crown later I paid nearly $500 USD. And it was just as effective as if I had the procedure done as home. My root canal with a new crown cost much less than your deep clean, plus antibiotics.

I don't think you're getting ripped off. I just think this is how it is in America anymore. Dentistry and most medical work is big business.

 

[Mai72]

dude you have to brush minimum two

Flossing is a biggie. A dentist once told me that if most people flossed they wouldn't even need to see him on most occasions. I can't tell you how many times I've flossed and pulled out steak or chicken from between my teeth.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Flossing is a biggie. A dentist once told me that if most people flossed they wouldn't even need to see him on most occasions. I can;t tell you how many times I've flossed and pulled out steak or chicken from between my teeth.

Yeah I know. It's on my part that I get lazy to floss. Every time I floss there's always some sort of food/gunk coming out. Typing this as I just brushed my teeth, flossed, and rinsed it in Listerine lol.

 

[Mai72]

Yeah I know. It's on my part that I get lazy to floss. Every time I floss there's always some sort of food/gunk coming out. Typing this as I just brushed my teeth, flossed, and rinsed it in Listerine lol.

Try to floss once a day for 30-40 days straight. You can't miss a day. Once it becomes habitual you will hardly miss a day. I hardly ever miss days unless I get really lazy. I like to floss before I go to bed.

 

[disappoint]

My dentist had a plaque on the wall. It read:

You don't have to floss all your teeth.
Just the ones you want to keep.





get it? plaque?

 

[MrColin]

yes
It's 1-2 hours of labor max, with reusable instruments, and about $1.80 worth of medicine.

 

[jaedaliu]

6s are huge.

You have 1 more free cleaning this year? Go somewhere else to get another cleaning and another quote.

 

[Rakehellion]

Go to another dentist then.

There's a dental college near me when I was growing up where dental students would give you work for free. Of course they'd ruin all of your teeth, but for extractions it was just fine.

 

[John Connor]

That much for a cleaning and antibiotics? You're being fucked!

 

[highland145]

Regular flossing reduces the gaps. Hell of a lot cheaper than the dentist.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

First off I will say I am not the greatest at brushing my teeth twice a day. I usually do it once and I usually floss every 2-3 days.

So I went to a new dentist, who was recommended to me by a friend, for a normal cleaning today. (Yelp reviews are relatively good too) They did their standard x-ray, check up etc. X-Ray and all of that was fine, no cavities but then they did a gum probe. Basically the told me I had a few 6's (millimeter gaps) in some of my back teeth. They told me I would need a deep cleaning and antibiotics for those teeth.

Well the quoted me the bill and it was $1820. My insurance would cover $1166 (out of my $1500 yearly limit) and I would pay $654 out of pocket.

Is it me or does that sound way expensive? I was planning to use my yearly limit to remove my last two wisdom teeth (which would be about $700) so this would throw a crutch into it. I've had that same probe before and after a cleaning and taking care of my teeth the gaps reduced. Do I really need to do this? From a few sites I read online most people who do this have gum disease and show some bone damage in the X-Ray. I had none of that and no history of that.

A gum score of 6 is pretty bad dude. Treatment is definitely warranted.

Cost does not seem out of line with what we had to pay when my wife had to have a deep cleaning and antibiotics for one of her teeth (odd that she needed it as her teeth are pretty good). Bill for the one tooth was ~$650.

 

[futurefields]

i cleaned a bunch of built up plaque from my teeth using a needle

pricked myself in the gums a few times

 

[moonbogg]

Flossing is a biggie. A dentist once told me that if most people flossed they wouldn't even need to see him on most occasions. I can't tell you how many times I've flossed and pulled out steak or chicken from between my teeth.

Flossing is disgusting sometimes, but not half as disgusting as NOT flossing.

OP, regarding getting ripped off, dentists are like car mechanics. They will max you out for whatever you can manage to pay for, with or without insurance. Most of us have financial limits, and they will try to find those limits....however, I have learned to take the ass raping and to like it.
Last time I ignored a dentist's suggestion, I came running back to him with severe pain and needed an emergency root canal because I thought he was bluffing me. You don't know if they are bull shitting you or not. I'd rather assume they aren't.

 

[Wreckem]

This isn't a normal cleaning or normal deep cleaning.

This would be a periodontal treatment that likely includes root planning and scaling. Likely for all four quadrants. And yeah 6mm is huge and means you already have periodontal disease. It needs treated or it will just continue to get worse.

It does seem kind of high as generally its ~$250 per quadrant.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

This isn't a normal cleaning or normal deep cleaning.

This would be a periodontal treatment that likely includes root planning and scaling. Likely for all four quadrants. And yeah 6mm is huge and means you already have periodontal disease. It needs treated or it will just continue to get worse.

It does seem kind of high as generally its ~$250 per quadrant.

Well I've gotten an opinion from this dentist before back in 2011 but I decided not to go through with it because I didn't have good insurance at the time. I remember they did the same thing and said something crazy like 7-8s so it has gotten better over the last 3 years.

 

[sourceninja]

Try to floss once a day for 30-40 days straight. You can't miss a day. Once it becomes habitual you will hardly miss a day. I hardly ever miss days unless I get really lazy. I like to floss before I go to bed.

I wish I could floss. I've tried every form of floss I know off. I can't get it though my teeth. My dentist also has trouble and typically when they do get it though it's with an audible pop and my teeth hurt for days (not my gums, which also bleed, but mostly from being slammed down on with a thin line of floss as it pops past my teeth).

I sometimes use a tiny little 'brush' to get at the space at the bottom by the gums, but that's about it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Do you have the option of skipping the deep clean and antibiotic stuff?

Just try to floss more often, and use mouth wash. Might recover.

TBH I don't floss as often as I should. I find flossing is just such a huge task, even with the floss sticks. I try to use mouthwash (with alcohol in it) and I think that helps as it kills bacteria that are missed when brushing. At least that's what the commercials say. You kind of have to take that with a grain of salt... but it does make sense, alcohol does kill bacteria so swishing it in your mouth should kill them. It does not replace brushing obviously though, you still need to get solid crap out.

 

[purbeast0]

I wish I could floss. I've tried every form of floss I know off. I can't get it though my teeth. My dentist also has trouble and typically when they do get it though it's with an audible pop and my teeth hurt for days (not my gums, which also bleed, but mostly from being slammed down on with a thin line of floss as it pops past my teeth).

I sometimes use a tiny little 'brush' to get at the space at the bottom by the gums, but that's about it.

get one of those water picks.

 

[T9D]

$1820 for a deep clean and antibiotics?

I'm not trying to compare my situation in Bangkok, Thailand to your position in the states, but I think it's worth mentioning. I had a deep clean and it cost me $80 USD. .

I hear ya, when I was in Bangkok Thailand I got the deep clean with the happy ending for only $5 more.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Do you have the option of skipping the deep clean and antibiotic stuff?

Just try to floss more often, and use mouth wash. Might recover.

TBH I don't floss as often as I should. I find flossing is just such a huge task, even with the floss sticks. I try to use mouthwash (with alcohol in it) and I think that helps as it kills bacteria that are missed when brushing. At least that's what the commercials say. You kind of have to take that with a grain of salt... but it does make sense, alcohol does kill bacteria so swishing it in your mouth should kill them. It does not replace brushing obviously though, you still need to get solid crap out.

Well yeah option is fuck that dentist and go to another one lol.

I think that's what I am going to do and really make an effort to take care of my teeth. I don't know when I started brushing only once a day but I gotta make it a habit to do two again.

TBH I really want to get my top two wisdom teeth removed. They don't hurt but keeping them clean is a pain since my jaw is small and its hard to brush back there.

 

[gorb]

You definitely need to improve your oral hygiene. Brushing once and not flossing daily is gross and 6mm gaps are huge. I usually brush 4 or 5 times a day and floss 2 or 3 times. I recommend Oral-B Glide floss. I also recommend getting a Waterpik or some other sort of irrigator.

No clue about the pricing on that deep clean but it does sound a little on the expensive side.

 

[cabri]

Negotiate the out of pocket costs

 

[Hmongkeysauce]

I'm in a similar boat as you op. Just went to the dentist yesterday because I had a major toothache that was bothering me the entire day on Monday. Turns out, it requires crown, root canal, and gum surgery. Total out of pocket is $1900 after insurance covered about half of it. I'm sure I could had negotiated the cost down a bit because they gave me a professional discount of $300 without asking.

Needless to say, I forked over the cost to get the ordeal over with.