What every happened to the old fashioned dentist?

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
You know, the one office that does it all? The cleanings, the fillings, the root canals, the extractions, and the perio work? Why does everything have to go through a specialist?? I have yet to find a dental insurance plan that covers the specialists according to the dental coverage guideline. If I go see my regular dentist for a cleaning, covered at 100% twice a year with a $50 deductible. If I have a cavity it's covered at 80% after the deductible is met. If I have endodontics or periodontics also covered at 80%....unless I go to a specialist and I always am referred out to a specialist because the ONLY danged dentist in my area that is in my network is only a GENERAL Dentistry guy...he doesn't do endo or perio.

So, I have this horrible pain up above my back molar where there is a crown that is likely 25 years old. I go see my dentist and his hygienist takes an x-ray (he is not in the office this week, great). She says she sees inflammation in the nerve area...OR...it could be sinus inflammation, but because of my stupid knee replacement, I have to see someone ASAP because if it is dental/oral related I can't risk getting an infection that could travel to the knee. WTH?!?!?!? I ask her to please give me a script for antibiotics and I'll see the dentist next week when he returns...she says it doesn't matter because he doesn't do anything but general dentistry...no endo/perio.

When I was a kid/young adult, etc., our dentist did EVERYTHING.

Go see your Dr for a bunion or plantars wart? Boom, she sends you to the podiatrist. Our old family Dr treated everything. What, why oh why is everything specialised???? I hate it!!!!
 

recoveringenabler

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I hear you H&R, I am in the middle of getting an implant ($5500.00!!) I had to go to 3 different dentists for all the various procedures and pay each one for an office visit and whatever they did. And, I shopped around and went to a couple of dentists to get second and third opinions because I was so incredulous that one tooth would cost that much money!

I do understand the infection thing though, because an infection in the mouth can travel throughout the body. Case in point, my girlfriend had dental surgery when we were 32 years old and the infection in her teeth traveled to her heart and she had open heart surgery to repair the damage and it weakened her heart so she is still on heart medication today. Unbelievable. But, be careful, there is truth to what they say.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
My dentist... I've been seeing him for 25 years... Does most stuff. Routine extractions, fillings, root canals, bridges, and so on.

What he does NOT do, and never HAS done, is really complicated stuff. And I have a really complicated mouth most of the time.

So my regular dentist has done much work on my mouth, but when he gets in over his head... He refers me out.

But - what's the HYGIENIST doing diagnosis'ing?!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
We go to the "best" dentist in the community and husband and I have both had very expensive procedures that haven't worked well. I do NOT like thiese people. DDD
 

rejectedmom

New Member
in my opinion specialization is what drives the costs of health care up and in turn the cost of insurance. It stinks cause not only does it cost alot more to have things taken care of the specialists do not know you like the old family doctor does. I too had to see a podiatrist to have a plantar wart removed. I went for months and It kept comming back. I finially stopped going to the specialist and used. a home remedy that cleared it up in a couple of weeks UG! -RM
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
It's not just the specialists, but so much has changed about it. Used to be, a long time ago, you went in for an exam and if you needed any work done you had it done that same day. Now they will have you come back three or four times just for the simple things! It's gotta be the money, and I suspect that the better your insurance is, the more times they will have you come back! My son has pretty good dental insurance at his job but still has a co-pay for each appointment. He recently had an appointment where he had an exam and x-rays and he needed one filling in a back tooth, but they didn't do it the same day. He had to come back a second time and was given just a temporary filling! He then had to go back a third time to get the permanent filling put in! So he had to take off work three times, his insurance paid for three office visits and he paid three co-pays, all just to have one small simple filling put in!
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
My dentist has a weirdly unique practice that he now shares with his son. They schedule enough time for whatever - like a cleaning, but no more than that.

I have interesting insurance though. I don't have a specific copay - they just cover 90% of most stuff. So I get billed later...
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
When I worked for the State we had dental insurance available to us at an extra charge but most people didn't get it. It was expensive and it covered almost nothing! It was OK for the preventative stuff and if you had a large family who came in all the time for checkups, you might come out a little ahead. But if your child needed braces, it paid only a very small percentage of it. And if you had to have actual work done other than checkups and cleanings, it paid next to nothing!
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
My dentist will do any work that needs getting done in the same day---if he has time, which he usually does. But, yes, Donna, I know what you mean, all that rescheduling means extra dollars from our insurance. No one really goes to the dentist much except for cleanings, except H. difficult child also, if she actually went. She has severe anxiety when seeing the dentist and has to take a Xanax, even for cleanings. Pita.

So, I found an endodontist in my insurance, he's about 40 minutes away but at least I will have more coverage. They asked me if I needed work done, will I want to do it that day. Well, duh, yah, I do. If they need to do a root canal, they will drill through my existing crown and then fill it. That sounds weird to me. Anyway, in the meantime, my reg dentist has prescribed me amoxicillin to stave off any infection. I hope that doesn't me that when I go to the endo next friday I'm asymptomatic, Know what I mean?? Grrr. Anyway, I pay around $17/month for my dental/vision/life/add, which isn't a bad deal, we have decent coverage if we stay in the network. Orthodontic is not covered. I paid $5000 out of pocket EACH for difficult child and easy child's braces! And, of course, neither wore their stupid retainers so pcs bottom teeth are crooked and difficult child's top teeth are pointed out. Ugh.
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
I hear ya!

I'd still insist on an antibiotic. Go to your gp if you have to.


My reg dentist called in amoxicillin, so I'm taking 825mg 2x a day till next wed. My endo appointment is Friday. What was only in the upper left corner of my mouth has now irritated the entire jawline. Jeez, I hope this antibiotic kicks in fast. In the meantime, some painkillers that actually work would be nice.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Good. So sorry about the pain. Do you have OTC medications at home? An anti-inflammatory like naproxen might work.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Swishing warm salt water in your mouth a few times a day should also help.

FEEL BETTER HNR - YOu know what? Man - after JULY _ you should be ALL done with 2012 and feelin bad I think you've had more than your share of junk this year.......Set your goal to be all better by July - Then the rest of the year is HEALTHY year for you!
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
FEEL BETTER HNR - YOu know what? Man - after JULY _ you should be ALL done with 2012 and feelin bad I think you've had more than your share of junk this year.......Set your goal to be all better by July - Then the rest of the year is HEALTHY year for you!

I DEFINITELY L♥VE THE SOUND OF THAT, Star! Thank you~

 
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