wingsandsword
Legend
I think my dentist is ripping me off.
Let me give some explanation.
I went roughly 20 years with almost no dental care. An incompetent small-town dentist back in Stanford that did a filling on me without proper anesthetic left me deeply dreading dentists. I couldn't afford a dentist most of my adult life and didn't have dental insurance. When I was in the Army, all they cared about was getting my wisdom teeth out, cleanings or maintenance was something they didn't really provide nor care about.
In November 2016, I finally go to a dentist. The dentist office is fancy and elaborate and expensive-looking, more like a hotel lobby than a medical office. They tell me I need a deep cleaning, a rather invasive cleaning that takes a couple of sessions back-to-back. Since I hadn't been to the dentist since the Clinton Administration, that seemed plausible.
After that, they want me to come back in 3 months for a follow-up. I do that. Then another 3 months, and so on.
Insurance only pays for 2 cleanings a year, so the last 2 of these annual quarterly cleanings were out-of-pocket to me. Also, at every quarterly visit for the next two years they tell me I'm doing great, no signs of dental problems, everything looks good.
Well, I start to get suspicious about why I'm having to come in quarterly and pay out-of-pocket every 3 months for a checkup when everything seems fine every time, when every 6 months is the norm and what my insurance pays for.
I finally asked my dentist office about it. What changed things was that I got new dental insurance this year, and suddenly I'm not getting ANY of my visits covered fully, that my first visit of the year (which was previously free) was now $80.
They said that because I'd had a deep cleaning, I didn't qualify for normal dental cleanings anymore, that I was now on "periodontal maintenance", which is why I had to come in every 3 months. It didn't matter that the cleaning was almost 3 years ago, that I'd be coming in every 3 months from now on for the rest of my life, and they would all be billed as "periodontal maintenance" (which is more expensive than a normal cleaning), and even tried to say I was outright ineligible for normal cleanings from now on and that if they tried to submit a claim for a routine cleaning that the insurance company would reject it because I've previously had that deep cleaning.
My new insurance doesn't fully cover ANY "periodontal maintenance" visits, although it does cover normal cleanings. So, they want me to come in 4 times a year, for 2 visits I'll be paying about $80 for out-of-pocket and 2 visits I'll be paying about $160 out of pocket for.
So, because I had a specific cleaning procedure almost 3 years ago, they're saying that for the rest of my life I'll have to come in once every 3 months, instead of 6 months for the rest of my life, and it always must be billed as a more expensive office visit and cleaning and can't be one of the two-a-year cleanings automatically covered by my dental insurance?
Yeah. I'm thinking I'm getting ripped off, but does anyone who knows more about dentistry and dental insurance have any more insight on this?
Let me give some explanation.
I went roughly 20 years with almost no dental care. An incompetent small-town dentist back in Stanford that did a filling on me without proper anesthetic left me deeply dreading dentists. I couldn't afford a dentist most of my adult life and didn't have dental insurance. When I was in the Army, all they cared about was getting my wisdom teeth out, cleanings or maintenance was something they didn't really provide nor care about.
In November 2016, I finally go to a dentist. The dentist office is fancy and elaborate and expensive-looking, more like a hotel lobby than a medical office. They tell me I need a deep cleaning, a rather invasive cleaning that takes a couple of sessions back-to-back. Since I hadn't been to the dentist since the Clinton Administration, that seemed plausible.
After that, they want me to come back in 3 months for a follow-up. I do that. Then another 3 months, and so on.
Insurance only pays for 2 cleanings a year, so the last 2 of these annual quarterly cleanings were out-of-pocket to me. Also, at every quarterly visit for the next two years they tell me I'm doing great, no signs of dental problems, everything looks good.
Well, I start to get suspicious about why I'm having to come in quarterly and pay out-of-pocket every 3 months for a checkup when everything seems fine every time, when every 6 months is the norm and what my insurance pays for.
I finally asked my dentist office about it. What changed things was that I got new dental insurance this year, and suddenly I'm not getting ANY of my visits covered fully, that my first visit of the year (which was previously free) was now $80.
They said that because I'd had a deep cleaning, I didn't qualify for normal dental cleanings anymore, that I was now on "periodontal maintenance", which is why I had to come in every 3 months. It didn't matter that the cleaning was almost 3 years ago, that I'd be coming in every 3 months from now on for the rest of my life, and they would all be billed as "periodontal maintenance" (which is more expensive than a normal cleaning), and even tried to say I was outright ineligible for normal cleanings from now on and that if they tried to submit a claim for a routine cleaning that the insurance company would reject it because I've previously had that deep cleaning.
My new insurance doesn't fully cover ANY "periodontal maintenance" visits, although it does cover normal cleanings. So, they want me to come in 4 times a year, for 2 visits I'll be paying about $80 for out-of-pocket and 2 visits I'll be paying about $160 out of pocket for.
So, because I had a specific cleaning procedure almost 3 years ago, they're saying that for the rest of my life I'll have to come in once every 3 months, instead of 6 months for the rest of my life, and it always must be billed as a more expensive office visit and cleaning and can't be one of the two-a-year cleanings automatically covered by my dental insurance?
Yeah. I'm thinking I'm getting ripped off, but does anyone who knows more about dentistry and dental insurance have any more insight on this?