Dentistry
 

So, I've got a lousy toothache, had it since Friday. I've been putting up with it because SWMBO got extra hours at work, which makes us eligible for a group health plan, including $1500 a year of dentistry each.

Thing is, the paperwork said coverage would start December 1st. But we found out today that it won't start til her next paycheck - a couple more weeks.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to shell out some dosh. Anybody got any info about the going rates, or advice on getting it cheap?

Re: Dentistry
 

I work at a pediatric dentist, I'm not sure if rates are different in General Dentists, and I'm sure it will depend on the going rate in your area, but here's a rough guide for what we charge :

Emergency exam - $70
Two surface Filling - $160
Nitrous Oxide (anaesthesia) - $30
Bitewing Xray - $30

It depends on where the cavity is as to what surfaces will need filling. For example if the cavity is on the back or front of one of the teeth that touches another tooth, they will need to also drill into the top, which will make it automatically a 2 surface filling. It would be only if it is the top or one of the sides by your cheek or tongue where they *might* be able to isolate it to a one surface.

If it is raging toothache though, it may be deeper than just a standard filling and you could be looking at a root canal and then a crown, and thats where it starts to add up.

If your insurance is not due to kick in for another couple of weeks, I would try find a dentist that is in-network for that plan, go for the emergency appointment and see what the work is that needs to be done. If you have an absess they won't work on it until its cleared up anyway, so you could be on antibiotics for 7-10 days, and then go back once your insurance is there. Just make sure you check to see if there is a waiting period because I've seen alot of people of the last couple of months getting stung with that - they assume its effective immediately and then when we check it there is a restorative waiting period of anything up to 6 months.

Just one other thing - whereabouts is the pain? I had been getting recurring pain on my upper left, and assumed because I could feel a little hole that I was getting an absess, my boss did a quick check and xrays and it turned out it was my sinuses..... Just a thought :)

Hope that helps some ....

*btw -I'm not a dentist - I work on the front desk dealling with the insurance etc and i'm starting my dental assistant training in January, but you should go see one sooner rather than later...... :) *

Re: Dentistry
 

Thanks for the info. The thing of getting the emergency stuff done now and the pricier stuff when the plan kicks in is a good one!

The pain started at a premolar next to an extraction site, where there's a receding gumline and I assumed it was exposed dentine. But today it spread to underneath the molar on the other side of the extraction. So I'm not sure if that's something different or just referred pain along the same chunk of nerves.

I figure it's a couple of xrays and an exam just to find out...

Re: Dentistry
 

I have noticed a few dentists around here offering free exams and X Rays, maybe check out in your area and you could at least find out what the problem is that way.

Re: Dentistry
 

its gonna be $1500 whatever it is ....suck it up

Re: Dentistry
 

Down my way, discounted rate of insurance or first time customer -

$100 check up
$150 for basic digital x-ray
$100-500 for filling depending on where and type
$150 for cleaning
Free jar of vaseline for anything else.

One thing that might be worth doing if you live in a city be going to a dental school if it is still term time, usually can't book in advance and it's a case of waiting it out, but usually just paying cost of materials, so pretty much free and you have an experienced instructor person watching over you and student would be pretty close to finishing studies before being let loose, well this was up in Portland ME, been told similar down in my neck of the woods.

Re: Dentistry
 

Go to a walk in Clinic tell them you have no insurance and pay the fee normally about $35, you might need to call around to find a walk-in.

Re: Dentistry
 

Ask the dentist if they can hold the claim and date it after your insurance kicks in.

Re: Dentistry
 

Definitely call around, some dentists will work with you..... I'm sure it won't be free, but if you tell them you're planning on coming back when your insurance kicks in, they may help you out a bit more.

Also, you may need an antibiotic if something is infected....so its pretty important you go soonish.

Re: Dentistry
 

Thanks everybody - some good advice and info there.

Amazingly, it's not so bad this morning. I'm hoping that this is because I've been making a determined effort not to suck air over the forward tooth (which provided some temporary relief but, I think, chilled the nerve, causing the referred pain in the rear tooth).

I'll call around to find an in-network dentist and see what my options are, but will try to hold off going in until our coverage starts - unless it flares up again.

Re: Dentistry
 

Theres always the last resort :lol:

Or a piece of string tied to the door knob, attached at the other end to the toothie then WHAM!!..problem eliminated :D

Re: Dentistry
 

Nah, as any fule kno, the proper way is to tie one end of the string to Ollie's tooth and the other to the bumper of car, which Stanley attempts to drive away but accidentally puts in reverse. Hilarity ensues...;)

Re: Dentistry
 

I was going to suggest string and a football.......same result.

And much cheepness. :D

Re: Dentistry
 

For what it costs for a filling I'd just go and get it sorted out....I can't stand pain. :cry_smile: If it requires more costly work maybe you can sort something out with the dentist regarding the insurance claim.

Re: Dentistry
 

I agree with Bob about going to a dental school if there is one nearby. I go to NYU dental in NYC. The students have to be in at least their third year of school and are supervised by the dentists who teach there. I got both a cleaning and a full set of bitewing xrays just a few weeks ago for $85.00. I had a filling done for $75.00. It was a 3 surface filling. I ahd a crown and rootcanal for $900. You can go in for an emergency for $90. I am assigned to a student and that is my student for their duration of their schooling. I have been using them for 7 years. I can book in advance as well. Since this is in NYC it is probably cheaper in your neck of the woods. You want to get it taken care of in case it's an infection as well. Good luck.

Re: Dentistry
 

Book an evaluation appointment where the dentist can have a look. If you have an infection, you may need to get it cleared up anyway prior to being able to do any work. Based upon what you're describing, it may be periodontal work you need, and if so, I strongly recommend that you have a specialist do that work. You may have to wait to book until January anyway. Your dentist should be able to sort something for pain, and FWIW, Sensodyne toothpaste actually does work. ;-)

If there's any sign of infection, PLEASE take the prescribed antibiotic until it's gone and follow up. It's rare, but an infection at the site of an extracted tooth can lead to systemic infections and things like myocarditis, which you definitely don't want!

I am not a doctor or a dentist, so run this information by your doctor and dentist to see what they think.

Re: Dentistry
 

Sounds like you have a crack in your tooth to me. I had a that at the beginning of the year. Only option was to extract the tooth, which is also the cheapest option.

Re: Dentistry
 

Get some Sensadyne and suck it up for a few weeks you big wuss! :p

Re: Dentistry
 

That must be one s**t dentist. :D

Re: Dentistry
 

Fixed :p

Re: Dentistry
 

Just pull them all out yourself with pliers! :)



I may be a dentist* but I am not your dentist.





*I also may not be a dentist.

Re: Dentistry
 

Thanks for reminding me about this you two! Guess where the whiny DH is getting sent.

Oh, the appointments are 3-4 hours? TOO BAD! :D

Re: Dentistry
 

NYU dental takes you in two hour increments. Sometimes it takes a few appointments to get work done that would only take one in a regular dentists office but it can save you alot of money. I have had a few students that I had not been happy with and there was never a problem switching students. Also if you need a periodontist or endodontist they are in the same building so you don't need to go to another office. Only 5th year students are allowed to do specilaty work. They are still always supervised. Also if the student you are assigned to or another student in the class needs to do a specific type of work for their exam it is free or at a very reduced rate.

Re: Dentistry
 

:rofl:

Re: Dentistry
 

Well, you're both right. I switched to sensodyne at the weekend and things have improved. There's still a dull ache, but not near as bad (though it does give me a headache).

I also think some chlorhexedine mouthwash might be a good idea, to deal with the receding gums. And this is where it gets interesting...

In the UK, you can buy chlorhexidine gluconate over the counter, as Corsodyl. In the US, however, I'd have to pay a dentist for an examination and a prescription, before anybody will sell me any (Peridex, etc). I figure I'd be over $100 of charges for that, plus $20-odd for the mouthwash.

But, I can buy Virbac CET Oral Rinse for cats and dogs for less than $10. Without a prescription. It contains 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate (same as in Peridex) and 0.05% Cetylpyridinium Chloride (half of the concentration in Oragel mouthwash).

So, I can save over $100 by buying an identical veterinary product. Wow!

Re: Dentistry
 

Just don't claw the furniture.:D

Re: Dentistry
 

I tried doing that.......it made me feel ruff. Ruff ruff!

Re: Dentistry
 

just wonder what other vile stuff might be in there like fish goop :D

Re: Dentistry
 

But I'm a cat. I like fish goop. :D

Re: Dentistry
 

That's interesting!

In the UK, some daily heart tablets for humans cost the NHS about 10p each. The exact same tablets for cats costs about £5 each.

Re: Dentistry
 

There's a wrinkle with vet meds in the UK, though. If there's no particular variant of a drug certified for veterinary use, the vet can prescribe any human equivalent, generic or otherwise. But once a firm gets its brand certified for veterinary use, it becomes illegal to prescribe anything else.

So, for example, while vets over here can prescribe generic methimazole (dirt cheap, made in bulk for humans) or brand-name Tapazole (same shit, slightly more expensive) or (since this summer) brand-name Felimazole (still the same, but just put in the Green Book of vererinary meds) when they need a thyrotoxin, UK vets can only* prescribe brand-name Felimazole (TM).

That rule might be where the price differential comes from.

* Not strictly true, as some brand name version of Carbimazole got approved in the UK last April, but you get my drift...

Re: Dentistry
 

Right! I was surprised when I discovered this the other day.

Re: Dentistry
 

Me too, but we shouldn't have been. Many such laws are little more than profit vehicles for rent seekers with expensive lobbyists. ;)

Re: Dentistry
 

I just discovered that due partially to the inflexibility of my employer's health benefits system and partially to my own absent mindedness that my two and a half year old son is not included in our family dental coverage, and of course now he has a chipped front tooth. It looks like we're going to have to go out of pocket for a checkup and whatever treatment is necessary on the tooth, so can you tell me what kind of expense we're looking at here?

thanks

Re: Dentistry
 

How badly is the tooth chipped? Sometimes the dentist can just smooth the chip away...no needles and absolutely painless...take a couple of minutes.

Edit: If it's your regular dentist you may get it done free. A couple of years ago my daughter chipped the bottom of her top front tooth. I'm sure it looked much worse than it was. She went to the dentist and he smoothed it away and didn't charge. I couldn't see any difference between the chipped tooth and the other front tooth...I wouldn't have believed it but you really couldn't tell one had been shaved down.

Re: Dentistry
 

I agree. I had a small chip and the dentist just filed it down. If it is a larger chip they can usualy do a composite or white filling on it which shouldn't cost too much.

Re: Dentistry
 

the chipped tooth isn't really the issue, it doesn't seem to bother Daniel, although I'm sure our dentist will want to do something with it. The main thing is Daniel's reaching the age when he'll start to need regular dental checkups within the next year and I'm wondering what the basic cost of those is likely to be without insurance.

Re: Dentistry
 

When can you add him to your insurance? IMO any dentist worth using would do it for free if you took him along when another family member is having a check-up and explained he wasn't insured.

It can't be cost a great deal...for a young child it's basically getting them used to opening their mouths for the dentist. At least it was like that in the UK when my daughter was young. I don't think anyone that age requires any sort of treatment or normal check up...or do they?

Re: Dentistry
 

if my company follows their policies to the letter? November next year. Unless you have what they call a "qualifying event" (eg birth of child, spouse changes jobs) then employees can only make changes to their health insurance coverage during a two-week window in November every year.

Re: Dentistry
 

I paid about $180 for my DD when she was about your sons age, and that was just for a check up and clean (Dental didn't cover her until she turned 3 but I wanted her checked out sooner as she had really soft enamal on her baby teeth).

And 6 months between every check up.

Of course it will vary with what state your in, so it might be worth just giving your Dentist a call to find out how much they'd charge?...just so you can get that second mortgage out to pay for it all..;)

oh and when you do get your son on the dental plan, read the small print because ours only covered my DD's 6 month check-up twice a year, nothing more and when I phoned them up about it they told me this was the norm as kids of that age shouldn't need any work doing..:thumbdown:...but you know what kids are like..