Like many people I became fed up with the high cost of dental work and insurance. I began to research how to get cheaper dental care and better insurance. Not bad care, just less expensive. What I found shocked me. I did not realize what a pawn my family had become in my dentist's game to line his pockets with riches. I was angry at what I discovered and you'll be to.
It seems as if dentistry has replaced cattle rustling in Arizona, as the best way to get rich.
It began with a Google search of dental care costs. I wanted to see if what we were charged by our dentist was in line with what other dentists charged. My first shock was that almost all the top websites under "dental care cost" were advertising to dentists. They were pitching ways dentists could charge more to their patients.
I found a website that appeared to allow you to compare dental cost by zip code. This sounded good. I wanted to know the going rate for a crown and a cavity filling. When I reached the website, it turned out to be a website telling dentists which zip codes they could charge the most in. It was the opposite of helping me. It was helping my dentist to charge more for dental care.
Take my previous dentist for example, in Arizona. His dental practice is in a prosperous zip code. His standard charges for some dental procedures have doubled over the past several years.
My family has health insurance. In the past, like many Americans, we either did not have dental insurance or when we did, it was limited.
Here is what really toasted my cookies regarding the website advice to help dental practices charge more. It turns out, that it is a wide spread practice for dentist to establish a tier system for charging, Here's how the tier system works for dental care. When you go in for your first appointment, the dentist or his office help size you up and guess how much you can pay.
Wear raggedy jeans to the dental office and you might be a tier one, getting the lowest fees. If a person is foolish enough to wear a nice watch or diamond earrings to your dentist office, you may be put in the computer as a tier five patient. You very well may pay more for each and every procedure you have at the dentist office, than the person who happened to wear raggedy jeans.
To summarize so far, we have two main techniques that your dentist may use to rip you off. First was the Zip Code Pricing Rip-Off. Next was the Patient Tier Pricing Method.
I accidentally discovered a third technique your dentist may use to rip you off. If you are lucky enough to have some dental insurance, it is probably a small amount that may likely not cover all of your expenses. Here is how your dentist may rip you off through insurance and you will never know.
Take my previous dentist for example, Dr. X (first letter G last letter S) of Arizona. He is not a participant in our family dental plan, but his son named Dr. X Junior is. They share the family office. The rules of the insurance plan that Dr. X Junior agreed to, require that he is limited to a certain charge for each procedure and his procedures are covered by our insurance. His father however would not be limited in what he could charge us, because he is not a participant in our insurance plan.
So here is how Dr. X Senior ran his dental office. We had been Doctor X's patients for some time. We would schedule a procedure with him and he would bill us, as our insurance did not cover him. But who did the work. It turns out, that Dr. X Junior actually did many of the procedures. We paid full price with no insurance coverage to Dr. X Senior from our own pocket, while his son did the work. It would have been and should have been covered, by our existing insurance due to his son's agreement with our insurance company.
After I discovered the above items I became even more curious. I contacted our insurance company which is the largest in Arizona. I asked them if what occurred was ok. Apparently it is not alright with them. They also indicated that they had multiple employer identification numbers for the good dentist and that the file was confusing.
Now a question has been raised as to whether certain procedures may have been coded incorrectly or double billed. Not that this is the case, just that the question has been raised.
I personally am not a vindictive person and did not pursue any claim against Dr. X. He, on the other hand, sent me a new bill for braces on a child that no longer has braces. This, over a year after we last visited his office. He also sent our final bill to collection.
So here is some no nonsense, straight talk advice to you and your family to save money on dentistry.
1. Get a good dentist in a poor zip code.
2. Shop around.
3. Check with the dental insurance company to see what your dentist is billing them.
4. Convince the dentist on the first visit that you are poor, so you get placed on the low tier.
5. Tell the dentist you have just enough money to pay him or her, and no more.
6. Negotiate every procedure.
7. If it's expensive get a second opinion.
We now have a very good and reasonably priced dentist by following this advice.
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