Feeling aggravated as a second crown has fallen out while I was brushing my teeth. Seeing the dentist tomorrow to get them put back in and find out WHY they keep falling out!
More aggravation! NOW I have to find a new dentist! I hope to find one closer to home that can work with retirees on a fixed income.
Conversation in dentist's office yesterday:
Staff person: Your new treatment plan will cost about $2,000.
Me: What?!? What EXACTLY is in this new "treatment plan"? I look at the details and noticed that one of the expensive items that they want to charge me for is finishing the implant that my insurance and I have ALREADY PAID FOR! I point this out and get told:
Staff person: Oh, no, no, no! You're wrong! You have to pay since your insurance won't pay to have it finished.
Me: That does NOT make any sense! You're telling me that my insurance paid to have the procedure started but WON'T pay to have it completed? Then the dentist walks in as I'm asking this question.
Dentist: Well, that's just the way insurance companies are.
Me: I am a retiree depending on a FIXED income. I'm dealing with the aftermath of flood damage and a hot water heater that has to be replaced. My pension CANNOT stretch any further and I CANNOT pay $2,000 up front for a long list of procedures that hasn't been done yet!
Staff person: Put it on a credit card.
Me: You're NOT listening. This is a debt that I CANNOT afford! I have NO way to pay this! I am TAPPED OUT! My pension can NO longer stretch!
Staff person: But it's only $50.00 a month.
Me: You're NOT listening. This is a debt that I CANNOT afford! My pension CANNOT be stretched to pay that! I CANNOT pay a $2,000 debt with money that I do NOT have!
Dentist: Well, come back when you can pay for this.
By this point, I'm smelling a rat with double-dipping which is why I suspect my insurance company is balking at paying AGAIN for the implant that has already been paid for. I can understand prioritizing the list, choosing the item that is most important, and focusing on getting that ONE item taken care of. But a $2,000 package with a LONG list of items, to be paid for up front, BEFORE they will even look at a cracked tooth, or a crown that needs to be replaced....that just feels obscene. With my other health issues going on, I could find myself in a position of being unable to finish the procedures....the dentist gets paid for work that was NEVER done...and I get left holding the bag without any expectation of a refund for work that was NEVER done? I think it's time to look for a new dentist, closer to home, that is willing to work with senior citizens on a fixed income.
