Two posts & gone.
I guess it went Bang! Zoom!
Yikes. I believe it though. I also believe with dental work, you get what you pay for, so it can be really hard to walk that line. My dentist isn’t cheap, and he doesn’t deal with insurance so no matter what one I use (HMO is right out, so I have to use PPO for any chance of reimbursement), all they’ll do is send my visit information along to the insurance and I wait for the check.
My work insurance companies just recently changed and we now have dental HMO available, but damn, I can’t bring myself to change dentists. I’ve been using this one since 2003 and I really trust him. Has never pushed any work that wasn’t needed, even though it’s a cosmetic dentistry office and I am a perfect candidate for lower teeth straightening and overall whitening if they wanted to get more money out of me.
Periodontal disease is a bit of a strange area. There are dentists that definitely over diagnose it but probably more who under diagnose it. Having it diagnosed once does not mean that you always have it. The bone loss may remain and so may the gum pockets, but it is an inflammatory disease and in the absence of bacteria/inflammation the disease isn’t there. No law I know of says once diagnosed always diagnosed. On the otherhand with a diagnosis of active perio a routine cleaning is not appropriate and is illegal.
If you have doubts about your dentist or a diagnosis ask them for clarification. If you have real problems always get a second opinion. If you don’t trust your dentist the relationship isn’t going to work for either of you.
Re getting a second opinion for dental work:
How much do dentists charge for a “second opinion” exam?
Is a “second opinion” exam a defined category different from a full exam?
Does dental insurance typically cover “second opinion” dental visits?
Thanks -
How would you define “active perio” ? is his something that is obvious to a person (bleeding gums when brushing, etc) or ???
Most dentists charge for a second opinion like it is a regular exam since it is the same work. You should be able to get the original x-rays so that should save their cost. Some insurance will cover it some won’t. First office I worked in the owner offered free second opinions as part of his marketing, very high volume low cost.
As a rule general rule active perio is diagnosed by the pocketing depths and presence and amount of inflammation/bleeding.
I got a free second opinion by going to the dentist my parents use. They took some limited X-rays, checked for pockets and visual exam. Got an estimate of itemized prices (discounted) for work agreed needed to be done. After deciding on the second dentist (seemed more modern -digital x-rays- and generally more up-to-date) I got the x-rays from the first dentist so I could to give to my new dentist. Never got charged for any of the x-rays initially or later by the chosen dentist.
Every dentist that I’ve gone to in the past decade has insisted on the panoramic scan for the initial visit. Since that should be done once every few years at most, going for second opinions would lead to unsafe amounts of x-ray exposure.
You could try telling the dentist “I’m interested in a second opinion, I have copy of my most recent x-rays, can we skip you doing the x-rays?”
You may have to talk to the actual dentist rather than the office staff.
Thanks.
Re minimizing x-ray exposure:
Don’t dentists share x-rays if requested by a current or former customer?
I thought this was standard protocol in the dentistry business–must happen often, because many customers switch dentists or get 2nd opinions–
I’ve never had them not. I move a lot, so I’ll send my rads to the new office. They’re all digital now.
Re: " Deep Cleaning" and “Root Planing/Scaling”, I have been approached several times during my adult life with this. There is a reason most insurance does not cover this procedure, given the potential for scams. If you are presented with this, be sure to ask the dentist to get the procedure pre-approved by your insurance BEFORE having this done. If insurance declines, ask the dentist why (you’ll probably get a song and dance). If you have the procedure before having the finances settled, you may be on the hook for a large share of the cost, and that may not be what you expected.
One time I had a dentist just admit insurance would not cover it, and then walked me to the business manager’s office to help me decide on financing. :eek: I kept walking - out the door.
The best policy is to always ask your dentist/physician, when presented with non-routine procedures, “How much is this going to cost me?”.
The ones I’ve been to have outright stated they don’t use other dentist’s panoramic scans or they’ve just said that they can’t use them for whatever reason. I wound up getting three pan scans within the space of a year, and they didn’t seem to have the slightest concern about exposure. One of them was part of a well-known regional medical center. One of them was going to do the scan without placing an x-ray shield over my shoulders until I insisted otherwise.
I had to have the deep cleaning/scraping done several years ago. Prior to that I had not been to a dentist for over 10 years. And they broke it down into four quadrants. Insurance paid.
Since that time, I’ve had regular cleanings, but they still take measurements around my gums because there are still small pockets.
To avoid such deep cleaning in the future, I have a regular cleaning three times a year.
showthx, whether insurance pays or not has little to do with the necessity of the procedure. A lot of insurance won’t pay for a limited evaluation (emergency exam) and treatment on the same day. So it a kid breaks his front tooth on the playground I need to do an exam, with x-ray, to determine the extent of damage and treatment to be performed. If i then do the treatment the same day I can get paid for the exam or treatment but not both. Why because insurance companies know that you will do treatment the same day and it saves them the $50-75 for the exam and x-ray. Lots of other things just like this. As I have said in the past there are dentists that abuse the “deep cleaning” but an insurance company is not on the side of the patient or dentist when it comes to payments. It is in their interest to not pay.
GreenElf, As for x-rays we always tell people to get their old pics is they can. Most dentists do. Yes some won’t and that should be a warning sign.