Ughh! Who likes going to the dentist? Raise your hand! Just what I thought . . I see no hands raised.
I seem to have ongoing bad luck with dentists. In Kentucky, the first dentist I went to . . he said I needed a crown and Vince thought he was too expensive and he found me a dentist. I wasn’t crazy about the guy but . . I went along. He did the crown but put it on the wrong tooth. I kept having trouble with it and didn’t realize it was on the wrong tooth. I said to Vince . . I like the other guy better, he isn’t outrageous and I’m going back to him. He said “Well, whoever you went to not only didn’t do a great job with the crown but he put it on the wrong tooth so that crown had to come off and be replaced and then the original tooth that needed the crown had to be done. So much for the less expensive dentist!
Then we went to MO and I had a tooth that needed a crown right before we left. There were several while we were there but towards the end, there was one so he put a crown on that one but in the process of getting it to fit, he made a hole in the crown. So, he had to replace that one before we left.
Not long after we got here, I began having trouble with that tooth and the dentist wanted to replace it but the insurance only pays to replace a crown after five years so we had to wait. My dentist is leaving and I switched to another dentist in the same office. I really like him but . . apparently his office didn’t check before submitting the claim. When I went towards the end of April to get the prep work done, they handed me the estimate and I paid for replacing two crowns.
I went back today and the insurance company had denied paying for the replacement crown on the crown from Nevada because it wasn’t five years old yet. I told Vince and I moved here in August, 2011. Vince called the insurance company and the dentist submitted the bill the end of April when they did the prep work, or when they were getting ready to do the prep work. The insurance counts five years from the day the permanent crown is cemented on til the day the new permanent crown is cemented on. The new permanent crown was cemented on today (5/19/16). The old permanent crown was cemented on five years ago yesterday (5/18/11), so they will, in fact, pay for it. The dentist office has to call, get permission to re-submit the bill . . jump through the insurance company hoops and then they will pay. Vince called the dentist’s office and explained and they’re going to do it.
How weird is that . . we just accidentally waited 5 years and 1 day to have the permanent crown cemented on. I was kinda aggravated that I had to keep that temporary crown three weeks. Now I’m glad I did.
It’s a bit frustrating that when a crown needs replacing, for whatever reason, you have to wait five years. It isn’t like anyone is going to get a new crown because they have nothing better to do. That’s torture and there’s no need to make it worse by causing you to endure a toothache til their time period has passed. The lady at the insurance company told me that dental insurance is different from health insurance. They don’t base payment on when you need to have the work done . . it goes totally on a time schedule.
I’m pretty lucky the way it worked out!
Bon says
You are lucky you have dental insurance. I don’t. I think I’ve paid for three crowns. In fact I just got one permanently glued in yesterday. It is a good thing he allows me to pay as I am able.
Kay Sorensen says
You did’t look well enough. My hand was up. I love my dentist and his whole
office staff. He is a high tech painless dentist. He is dry skilled at any procedure. People come from long distances to see hi because he is so good?
JudyL says
Sorry I missed your hand up! 🙂
I love my dentist and he has the nicest staff but I’ve had a fear of dentists for many years. In fact, I’ve been friends with his wife since before he was my dentist. The first thing he said to me was “Have you been to my house this week?”
My hygienist is coming out in a few weeks to get one of our roosters. She has the same chickens we have and she’s lost her roosters and I’m sure some of our new babies will be roosters.
What is painless denistry?
Julie says
Ugh dentists. I have a fear stemming from being told at age six they were going to cut out my tongue. I also don’t have dental insurance and have had to fork out mega bucks for dental work. I tried to get it and then was told I would have to wait two years for it to pay for a crown and then only 50% so it wasn’t worth it we decided. The most recent thing I had to go through was an implant. Thank heavens for good drugs, I don’t remember it, but still have a lot of stuff to go through with it, but at least I know that tooth will never need anything else!
alison says
I too love my dentist. He is so caring and explains everything carefully. Painless procedures are normal at his practice – cocaine paste to numb the area, then the local – and managed so well that nothing is felt but the effects wear off quickly. We can’t afford dental insurance. Yesterday he built up a tooth rather than extract it, which pleased me greatly. 2 hours work cost $410.00 NZ dollars. How does that compare?
meredith says
I’ve always been terrified because the only dentist in our area was known locally as “the butcher’. This was in the ’60’s and when treating children he didn’t believe in anesthetics for anything but extractions. We were just expected not to complain. Anything that sounds like a dentist’s drill still makes me cringe.
An elderly neighbour once commented that when she was a young girl and had a toothache her mother walked her twelve miles into town to the barber (who was a crude dentist), he pulled her tooth without any pain killers and then they walked the twelve miles home. Even paying a fortune is better than that I suppose!
Kathleen says
Don’t get me started on insurance! We pay big bucks for our health and dental insurance but still have to pay way too much for visits. Then there’s the health care system itself with its wait times and assembly line impersonal care. Do I sound frustrated?
LizA. says
You need to find a dentist that does the new method of crowns — all in one 2.5 hour visit — no temporary. Best fitting crowns I’ve ever had! All hi tech machinery and the crown is made right there.