Ugh. After much ado, I think I’ve got things sorted out.
For the interested…I called the dentist’s office to ask them to get me in sooner, emphasizing that I was in a great deal of discomfort. They informed me that the reason for the wait wasn’t scheduling after all, but “pre-insurance,” this being the process where they send the procedure codes to my insurance company to determine whether they’re covered. This, they said, was necessary because their office wasn’t in my insurance provider’s network, despite the fact that my insurance company’s website was where I got their number in the first place. The pre-insurance process evidently takes three weeks, and absolutely cannot be avoided, unless I were willing to undertake the devastatingly arduous task of calling my insurance company and asking them what they’d cover. I can see why they didn’t mention this to me up front; who in their right mind would make a phone call when they could sit around in pain for a few weeks instead?
Needless to say, I was already unimpressed, but they said that if I could get the information, they could get me in for the procedure at the beginning of next week. So, call I did. The insurance rep confirmed that this dentist was covered by their network, and gave me the rates based on the procedure codes. Pretty standard stuff — 80% for the root canal, 50% for the build-up and crown, $50 deductible, $1000/year max.
I called the dentist’s office back and told them this…or some of it, right up to the point where I was exasperatedly cut off mid-sentence. The conversation from there went as follows, as close to verbatim as I can recall, which is pretty damned close given my keen interest in the situation. (For greater accuracy, in each of Front Desk Lady’s lines, mentally append a :rolleyes: after every other word.)
Front Desk Lady: Look, I just need to know what your out-of-pocket would be.
Me: Well, they gave me the percentages, so I imagine that’d depend on what you charge. It’d be the fifty dollar deductible plus…
FDL: That doesn’t help me! If they’re really in our network, they need to tell you who they’re umbrella’d under.
Me: I don’t know what that means. They confirmed that you’re in their network. Can you just tell me what your rates are for those procedures? I’ll do the math.
FDL: I need to know what you’d pay out of pocket.
Me: Yes, that’s what I’ll — [at this point, I recognize that this is not likely to end productively] — you know what, I’m just going to find someone else to do this. Thanks for your time.
FDL: O-KAY, byeee! (CLICK)
Lovely woman, she was. Anyway, I hopped back on my insurance provider’s website, and called the next name on the list. (Normally I’d check reviews and the like, but at this point my most pressing concern was who could most expeditiously do something about the agonizing hole in my head.) As it happened, that dentist didn’t do root canals on molars, so they advised me to call an endodontic specialist. Easy enough; my provider’s website offered filters for specialties, so I selected “endodontics.”
Come to find out, wonder of wonders, there are no endodontists within 50 miles of Roanoke. (Note: this is a lie.) So, armed with that Google search, I switched tactics and started calling endodontists’ offices, and asking whether they accepted my insurance.
Around the eighth consecutive “no,” I decided it’d be easier to just look for GPs that were in network, and call around until I found somebody who either did endodontic work or knew someone who did. Even this proved to be daunting, as a full one-third of the “general practitioners” listed on my insurance company’s website either exclusively saw pediatric patients, or else was an orthodontics place that only did braces and had no clue what the hell I was talking about (seriously, this happened one out of every three places I called), but just 1.5 dozen calls later, I found a place that both did the procedures I needed and was willing to take a new patient before March.
As a result, I’ve got an appointment on Wednesday morning at 10:00. I should be okay until then, though I don’t think I’ll be eating anything tomorrow. I’ve got four hydrocodone pills left, and intend to go into their office with three, to assure them that they can trust me with whatever I’ll need post-(root canal/extraction).
Thanks again to everyone for the advice and well wishes, and I’ll post back on Wednesday, for better or worse.
The antibiotics couldn’t get into the area quickly enough to take it out. Then when they did the root canal, the infection prevented the anesthetic from reaching the nerve, so it wouldn’t go numb. They had to drill into the tooth and get to the nerve so they could inject the anesthetic directly on the nerve. Then the pain stopped for the first time in a week and I was in heaven. The other root canal was completely painless and complication free once the abscess was cleared up.
The antibiotics couldn’t get into the area quickly enough to take it out. Then when they did the root canal, the infection prevented the anesthetic from reaching the nerve, so it wouldn’t go numb. They had to drill into the tooth and get to the nerve so they could inject the anesthetic directly on the nerve. Then the pain stopped for the first time in a week and I was in heaven. The other root canal was completely painless and complication free once the abscess was cleared up.
<---- your shiny new grin