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So, I need 5,000$ in dental work, have private dental insurance, and will have to pay 5,000$. - Democratic Underground

Apparently my anterior crossbite (front teeth that do not fit together properly) is causing my back teeth to wear excessively.

My parents were poor and never able to pay for this when I was a child.

The dentist is recommending Invisalign braces for 1.5 years so that I do not have to spend twice that or more on crowns.

The good news is that I have private dental and health insurance through my employer.

I pay into these plans every month. The bad news. My dental plan does not cover any of the recommended treatment. Tell me again why I pay for private insurance.

I had a dentist tell me something similar but when I pressed - does it really matter - he said no. Get another opinion. Most private dental insurance doesn't cover this sort of thing.

Read your brochure carefully.

It also often covers things like root canals & crowns up to a certain $ amount (often low) and only at a certain percentage.

And often, there's a fairly low annual limit.

My teeth were worse than what is allowed for a year.

We had an idea, though, and were prepared.

Not my dentist's fault.

Dental insurance - even "good" coverage - is weak.

Years of poverty + bad genes = a lot of work that couldn't wait any longer.

As soon as I was on my husband's policy, the drilling, canaling, pulling, crowning and filling commenced!

The bridge waited until next policy term.

Or at least price them out.

If the insurance pays for those (it paid for 50% of mine) it may work out to a wash financially.

Then you can make your decision based on what you really prefer to do, rather than money.

Alignment are better, IMO.

I would always go with the least "destructive" method of making an improvement if possible.

And chances are, the dental insurance won't pay for all of the crowns, either.

I would do braces before crowns. As a matter of fact, I had to pay for my braces from age 24-26 also because the dental insurance said straightening at my age was cosmetic.

It probably allowed me to keep my teeth.

WHY DENTAL INSURANCE ISN'T REALLY INSURANCE I laugh every time I see it.

If so go old school, my partner has them and they are fine. Good Luck!

It's all such a charade. Get a second opinion. BHN

I have had the same dentist for over 20 years.

He always tells me the truth.

He says that most dental practices lie to their patients just for the money.

I am unemployed and have no insurance.

A tooth broke and I went to see him anyway.

He only charged me $100 for a check up, a cleaning and x rays!

He told me not to worry about anything right now.

He gave me an antibiotic just in case something happens.

I love this man.

You've found a gem of a dental doc! Damned hard to do these days... BHN

He is a gentle, kind man.

His wife use to catch babies, so he is totally into women's issues too.

I can talk to him about everything that happens in my life, and he understands me.

I don't know what I will do if I ever have to move or he retires!

Today and finished replacing a crown for my wife.

I was one of her first customers when she opened her first office behind where I worked.

It's been 30 years.

We have supplemental dental and it covers...

Not much. Certainly not orthodontics, which both kids will need eventually, due to teeth coming in perpendicular to their gums.

Major $$ damage. But whaddya gonna do?

In the Mexican border towns.

I have one and I swear he is better then the one I had in the US -

He swears by it. And he has no dental insurance. But he lives in San Diego, and I'm in the armpit of Wisconsin, so....

I know I need a lot of work done.

But I am not willing to pay the ripoff insurance companies one cent more for this.

I'd rather save up the cash, have a vacation in Mexico, and get it done there.

The care is just as good, and none of my money goes to the insurance parasites.

Self-employed, can't afford it. About two years ago I spent $10K to have all of my teeth pulled and plates made. (I was 42 at the time.) It was worth every penny.

Before the work, I had a chipped front tooth, I had ear infections all the time and was in constant pain. Now I just have to worry about lousy adhesives. Look on the bright side -- your teeth are still healthy enough for you to keep them.

I've had dentists who want to do all kinds of work, too.

I have dental insurance, but it would not cover adult orthodontics.

I found a different dentist who only does what I absolutely need.

I had several crowns put on...

And have had no problems. Good luck!

My friend got it and it worked surprisingly well.

Think how much better off we are than those toothless children in places like Bangladesh.

Now get down on your knees and thank God you live in an advanced country where our health care system in in the top 100 or so in the world.

Yeah! We're number 47!

(or 52, or something like that).

(Why do you libruls all hate America?)

When I was working, we had complete med and dental care with no premiums or co-pay.

I also had four kids.

Thank God for unions!

This is real!

If we make insurance mandatory, do they still get to pick what they'll cover? Will we, ourselves, be excluded while paying for others?

That's just silly.

Besides, this is about dental, not health care.

I can't think of any country that includes full dental as part of socialized health care.

Separate issues.

"The Medicare program does not cover most routine dental services. The Medicare law clearly excludes coverage “for services in connection with the care, treatment, filling, removal or replacement of teeth or structures directly supporting teeth” and dentists may not be required to submit Medicare claims for such services. • For people with Medicare, this means that Medicare will not pay for most routine dental care, such as fillings, cleanings, x-rays, and dentures, even if those services are performed in a hospital.

Payment for most dental care is your responsibility."

Even in single payer countries the two are separate and individuals are required to purchase their own dental care insurance on top of what they are taxed for health care.

If there is coverage under the national plan, it basically consists of free pulling of all your festering teeth so you can go around gumming stuff for the rest of your life.

Anything beyond that you pay out of pocket.

Not sure what your beef is?

Are you advocating for full on dental to be included with health care?

If so, doubt that would happen.

Edit: you said: "Yes, exactly.

But you seem to be confusing health care with dental care." There isn't any separation.

Direct links have been seen in some recent oral health studies between gum disease and the health of the heart.

Dental care should not be set apart from overall health care.

Rotten teeth can lead to serious and even life-threatening oral infections.

I've seen this firsthand with my roommate. He got his teeth pulled (yes, all of them), and the infections stopped immediately.

These would have eventually killed him.

He now uses dentures. I don't know how we got this silly idea implanted into our national mindset.

Dental care IS part of overall health care, and should be treated that way.

Also note, a great many HMOs and other health insurance companies have separate plans for dental care. They're double-dipping, and they know it.

Why else would they go to such great lengths in order to make you think that dental care is "something other" than health care? Follow the money.

This illogical and IMO dangerous separation between health care and dental care is related entirely to profit.

...hearing and vision care are not covered, as well. So three of your five senses could be excluded from your mandatory health insurance policy. I'd just like to see some standards of care implemented, before I get all warm and fuzzy about national health care.

And they probably will have to go to the workhouse and get jobs as scullery maids to pay for it.

And covers very, very little that people in real life actually need, and generally covers heroics less expensive procedures would have prevented.

I'll bet a careful reading of your policy would probably say they'd pay for the crowns 5 years from now after 5 years of dental pain. The Invisalign braces seem like a wonderful way to go, but the old fashioned kind might be cheaper.

Check into it if you'll have trouble coming up with the $5000, but go for the Invisalign if you're OK with it. Good luck.

There's little worse than a mouthful of bad teeth.

They could do the work for about 1/3 or less.

May take more time, but you'll be helping a student (+ saving some bucks)

We have great insurance from our company, yet their dental plan is useless. I'm in the process of having the same done right now, however this is just the start. After the braces come of, which are to align my bite for the same reason, I have to get three implants and then after 14 veneers.

The braces have been on for almost a year now and the work after will take at least three years more.

All out of pocket.

Serious money, all told, about $75 large. Oh, I forgot about the particulate bone augmentation I needed to build up one side of the upper jaw for an implant to work. As for the Invisalign braces, I got the old style ones as they do a better and faster job of it and cost a bit less. All this after I went to two a-holes in NJ who pulled teeth, put in implants three weeks later against my wishes, I researched the process and said they should heal for at least 6 months before placing them and was told that was not the case.

Well, I went to the NJDA and got my money back.

I could have sued but I don't believe in that, so I went the polite way and the system worked for me. If you need any advice, just send an email, I'd be glad to help.

I have a 4 DDS team in NY who work on the rich and famous.

I was shown pics of celebs, CEO's & others, many fly in from over seas just for these guys. Hope it works out for you.

Abused insurance product on the L and H side.

People buy it get something fixed and drop it, would be much worse with orthodontics covered.

You can find some with a rider for it but very few.

I am sorry to see it.

For the 1st time in my life. Senator Cantwell, "Democrat", is against our family having medical care.

Should I vote for a "Democrat" like that? NO HELL NO

I've had several lower teeth pulled on both sides of my mouth bordered by crowned teeth.

My dentist and the oral surgeon who pulled the bad root canal out think I should have a dental implant with a 2 tooth crown.

The insurance company will not pay for it (it is not the standard of care in this case).

They want the dentist to pull the healthy crowns off the unaffected teeth and put a 4 tooth bridge in which will cost far more money and possibly do damage to the teeth getting the crowns ripped off MORE money and possible additional unnecessary damage WWWW ??!?!? The oral surgeon has appealed and the insurance company is past due in its response. But we don't need reform

Sorry to hear about this.

It is either a bridge or stay 4 teeth short on the bottom.

I don't have 3K for the implant and crowns..

Hopefully the appeal will work.

Ah, good old US health insurance.

That was $400 out of pocket for general anasthetic, which apparently is a non-essential item for serious oral surgery.

They didn't cover the implants at all, but did cover some of the procedures surrounding their implantation.

Apparently having my front teeth permanently replaced, when they were broken as a child, ranked as "cosmetic" in their book.

At 35, they thought I should just use a denture. Also, make sure that you get a second opinion from an orthodontist with a competing price.

Dentists will often simply recommend the treatments they happen to have available in their office, knowing that few people get second opinions.

I've personally heard a lot of bad opinions about the Invisalign system being overpriced, requiring unusually long treatment times, and frequently not making the alterations they were originally placed for. My wifes old dentist recommended that she get Invisalign for a bite problem about two years ago and tried to push her into signing the treatment papers on the spot.

Since my daughter sees an orthodontist for her braces, my wife asked him for a second opinion.

He confirmed a slight issue, but told her that it was so minor he'd never even consider recommending treatment to one of his patients.

He then suggested she see another ortho to confirm. Her teeth are fine, we didn't spend the money, and she now has a new dentist. Remember, dentists make far more money from specialty treatments than they do with checkups and cleanings.

Even if you do end up needing to have your teeth corrected, you're far better off (and usually get better prices) by seeing an orthodontist who specializes in that sort of equipment, instead of having your regular dentist do it, who only practices orthodontia on the side.

Just for the privilege of being told to go fuck yourself while watching them fondle your premiums? My plan does.




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