Dentistry - What does this mean?

Author

What does this mean?

JimSocal

2006-09-22, 8:25 am

My wife went to the dentist. As she understood it - or explained it to
me - the dentist was just adding some cement to a loose crown or
something like that. I guess she must have misunderstood.

So I get this bill for $243 that says "Resin composite-3s, posterior".

What does this mean? That he put a filling in on tooth #3?
Why would it cost so much?

I'm going to be asking the dentist who did the work this question, but
I won't see him for a couple weeks; meanwhile I am curious: why would
a filling cost this much?

George

2006-09-22, 4:23 pm

JimSocal wrote:
> My wife went to the dentist. As she understood it - or explained it to
> me - the dentist was just adding some cement to a loose crown or
> something like that. I guess she must have misunderstood.
>
> So I get this bill for $243 that says "Resin composite-3s, posterior".
>
> What does this mean? That he put a filling in on tooth #3?
> Why would it cost so much?
>
> I'm going to be asking the dentist who did the work this question, but
> I won't see him for a couple weeks; meanwhile I am curious: why would
> a filling cost this much?

It sounds like a 3-surface composite filling on a posterior tooth. I
can't comment on the cost since I live in another country, but
composite fillings are much more expensive than amalgam.

Regards,
George

catherine.combs@gmail.com

2006-09-22, 4:23 pm

JimSocal wrote:
> My wife went to the dentist. As she understood it - or explained it to
> me - the dentist was just adding some cement to a loose crown or
> something like that. I guess she must have misunderstood.
>
> So I get this bill for $243 that says "Resin composite-3s, posterior".
>
> What does this mean? That he put a filling in on tooth #3?
> Why would it cost so much?
>
> I'm going to be asking the dentist who did the work this question, but
> I won't see him for a couple weeks; meanwhile I am curious: why would
> a filling cost this much?
___________________________

It means two things:

1. The note indicates a three-surface composite resin filling on a back
tooth.

2. It also means that I DEFINITELY need to raise my fees!

- dentaldoc

JimSocal

2006-09-23, 9:25 pm

On 22 Sep 2006 11:13:44 -0700, catherine.combs@gmail.com wrote:

>
>JimSocal wrote:
>___________________________
>
>
>It means two things:
>
>1. The note indicates a three-surface composite resin filling on a back
>tooth.
>
>2. It also means that I DEFINITELY need to raise my fees!
>
>- dentaldoc
Thanks. I am definitely going to question the dentist on his price on
this. Also, she says the tooth is bothering her so I'm going to insist
he fix whatever the problem is without further charge.

JimSocal

2006-09-23, 9:25 pm

On 22 Sep 2006 11:13:44 -0700, catherine.combs@gmail.com wrote:

>2. It also means that I DEFINITELY need to raise my fees!
>
Not necessarily. This dentist probably just lost this patient as a
result of this fee. When I saw the bill I hit the roof and now that I
know it was just a filling, I am going to switch dentists, once he
fixes it up (because she is having pain from it, still, after the
filling.)

AdvanceAgent

2006-09-24, 8:22 am

Depending on how big the filling is, I probably would not recommend a 3
surface composite filling on the BACK tooth. I would recommend getting
a crown. It's better suite to withstand bitting pressure of the back
teeth.

If you're in South California, $253 for a 3 surface composite filling
is actually reasonable for cash patient. If you have insurance and
still need to pay $253, then you have a bad insurance.

[AdvanceAgent #367924]

Games I am currently playing:
http://uc.gamestotal.com/?in=367924

JimSocal wrote:
> On 22 Sep 2006 11:13:44 -0700, catherine.combs@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> Not necessarily. This dentist probably just lost this patient as a
> result of this fee. When I saw the bill I hit the roof and now that I
> know it was just a filling, I am going to switch dentists, once he
> fixes it up (because she is having pain from it, still, after the
> filling.)

JimSocal

2006-09-25, 2:26 am

On 24 Sep 2006 00:41:07 -0700, "AdvanceAgent"
<service@advanceagent.com> wrote:

>Depending on how big the filling is, I probably would not recommend a 3
>surface composite filling on the BACK tooth. I would recommend getting
>a crown. It's better suite to withstand bitting pressure of the back
>teeth.
>
Well, this is what I told my wife when I found out that we just paid
$243 for a big filling. For a couple hundred more we could have gotten
a whole CROWN made at the dental school (Graduate student). It seems
to me that it is a waste of money to pay that much for a filling.
Meanwhile now the tooth is bothering her and I have a scary feeling it
is going to need a root canal. Shouldn't the possibility of a root
canal have been seen and checked out before doing a filling such as
this???

>If you're in South California, $253 for a 3 surface composite filling
>is actually reasonable for cash patient. If you have insurance and
>still need to pay $253, then you have a bad insurance.
>
Dental "insurance" is a total rip-off. You pay several hundred dollars
for a benefit with a $1000 cap in most plans, and in other plans they
just sell you stuff you don't really need to make up for the money
they lose by giving you insurance prices. I tried several different
dental plans and every one of them led us to bad dentists and con
artist dentists, so I quit paying for dental insurance. So yes, the
$243 was a cash price.

I'm not sure he didn't, but I don't think he even told my wife it was
going to cost this much. Had I known I would have questioned it and
perhaps gone somewhere else to get a 2nd opinion and maybe get it done
cheaper. I feel I got "taken" here.

Konnie

2006-09-25, 4:23 pm

JimSocal wrote:
> On 22 Sep 2006 11:13:44 -0700, catherine.combs@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Not necessarily. This dentist probably just lost this patient as a
> result of this fee. When I saw the bill I hit the roof and now that I
> know it was just a filling, I am going to switch dentists, once he
> fixes it up (because she is having pain from it, still, after the
> filling.)

I was just charged $495 for two TINY fillings.

Bill

2006-09-29, 4:24 pm

Konnie wrote:
>
> I was just charged $495 for two TINY fillings.
__________________

Sheesh, Konnie, I wish you had called me first.

You would have saved money, and I would have made money. A win-win
situation!

- dentaldoc

Bill

2006-09-29, 4:24 pm

JimSocal wrote:
> On 24 Sep 2006 00:41:07 -0700, "AdvanceAgent"
> <service@advanceagent.com> wrote:
>
> Well, this is what I told my wife when I found out that we just paid
> $243 for a big filling. For a couple hundred more we could have gotten
> a whole CROWN made at the dental school (Graduate student). It seems
> to me that it is a waste of money to pay that much for a filling.
> Meanwhile now the tooth is bothering her and I have a scary feeling it
> is going to need a root canal. Shouldn't the possibility of a root
> canal have been seen and checked out before doing a filling such as
> this???

A root canal is always a possibility when ANY filling is done. As a
general rule of thumb, the bigger and deeper the filling, the greater
the possibility, although this is not a 100% correlation.

As a matter of fact, since crowns involve even more removal of tooth
structure than most fillings, it is quite common for teeth to need root
canal treatment AFTER a crown is placed. I can't count the number of
times I have seen new patients with crowns that have a filled hole
right in the middle of the crown where the root canal had been done
after the crown was placed.

> So yes, the $243 was a cash price.

Lots of good dentists make fillings for less than $243, but you really
have to look around. It is becoming more difficult to find a dentist
who combines conservative treatment with reasonable fees, though today
they still do exist in substantial numbers.

But I don't know what people will do when the current crop of Baby
Boomer dentists retire, and you are left with the younger dentists who
grew up in a era of fancy "appearance-related" treatments that are not
health-related. These "esthetic" treaments can cost more in one
treatment plan than you've spent in your entire life for ALL your
dental health.

Watch out for those dentists who think they are running a "spa," like
an accessory to a beauty salon, instead of a professional healthcare
office. These outfits are increasing in number, even as the plain,
health-oriented offices are starting to disappear.

> Dental "insurance" is a total rip-off. You pay several hundred dollars
> for a benefit with a $1000 cap in most plans, and in other plans they
> just sell you stuff you don't really need to make up for the money
> they lose by giving you insurance prices.

Once in a while you can find relatively good insurance, but it is only
available through an employer. Unfortunately sometimes the employers
don't pick good insurance.

Notice that in the cases you mentioned, it is the DENTISTS, not the
"insurance" plans, who are actually selling the "stuff you don't really
need."

Those patients who put their insurance first, and their choice of
dentists second, are shooting themselves in the foot.

The trick is to FIRST find quality, healthcare-oriented dentists. Then,
secondarily, find out which ones take the insurance you have. Too many
patients do it backwards, and make the mistake of thinking that it's
the insurance that is most important. Your first priority should be the
quality and nature of your dental care.

The main point in obtaining good quality care is NOT which insurance
you have, but which DENTIST renders the treatment!

So the task is: narrow the field down to which dentists you respect and
can work well with, and then to determine which ones also have the fees
you are comfortable with.

Good insurance is available -- for example, the dental plans of some of
our local school districts are good, while others are not so good.

The insurance is the last consideration on the list, not the first.

- dentaldoc

JimSocal

2006-10-05, 2:26 am

On 29 Sep 2006 10:29:04 -0700, "Bill" <dentaldoc@hotmail.com> wrote:

>edit...
>The main point in obtaining good quality care is NOT which insurance
>you have, but which DENTIST renders the treatment!
>
>So the task is: narrow the field down to which dentists you respect and
>can work well with, and then to determine which ones also have the fees
>you are comfortable with.
>
>Good insurance is available -- for example, the dental plans of some of
>our local school districts are good, while others are not so good.
>
>The insurance is the last consideration on the list, not the first.
>
>- dentaldoc

It's getting very hard - impossible I'd say - to find a dentist who is
any good that does not charge too much.

I have been to about 8 different dentists in the past few years and
the only one that was any good was a grad student at dental school.
The rest have either been lousy or too expensive.

I finally found one I thought was good and not too expensive, then he
turned around and gouged us on this tooth (at top of thread) AND now
she's having trouble with the tooth, as well, after he worked on it.
Unfortunately now we have to wait until January before we can get her
into the dental school graduate student office...

But from now on I'm going to try to stay over there.