Last month, I somehow cracked a tooth (T#4 for those interested). Going in to see my dentist, he decided the best course of action was a root canal and crown. Simple and easy peasy, right? So he does the work, gives me a temporary sedative filling and has me come back in three weeks (first available slot he had).
I go back today and he does his thing. As he's finishing I notice he's sticking little bits of cotton in and finally lets me know he can't do the root canal. There's a crack somewhere in the tooth where he can't see and blood is oozing. New plan of action - extraction and a bridge. Okay. That works. It's pricey I'm sure, but it works.
So he gets me temporary sedative filling again and I go up to the counter to get the estimated cost. That's when I find out that they won't pay for the two crowns to complete the bridge. Okay. So if they won't pay for the whole thing, just part of the fake tooth, how about a partial. I can deal with a partial.
After about 10 minutes I found out that no, they won't pay for that either (same as above, just part of the fake tooth). So I'm faced with a $2500 bill for the bridge or a $1700 bill for the partial. The ladies in billing said they'd never encountered insurance like this.
I still need to get the extraction, which will probably happen in the next week or so - our receptionist is currently in the hospital being treated for a blood clot and will probably be out the rest of the week.
This sucks and it's making me seriously consider my dental insurance choice for the upcoming open enrollment. I've had this insurance since 2004 and it's good. I guess they don't expect me to chew my food with my molars anymore.
I go back today and he does his thing. As he's finishing I notice he's sticking little bits of cotton in and finally lets me know he can't do the root canal. There's a crack somewhere in the tooth where he can't see and blood is oozing. New plan of action - extraction and a bridge. Okay. That works. It's pricey I'm sure, but it works.
So he gets me temporary sedative filling again and I go up to the counter to get the estimated cost. That's when I find out that they won't pay for the two crowns to complete the bridge. Okay. So if they won't pay for the whole thing, just part of the fake tooth, how about a partial. I can deal with a partial.
After about 10 minutes I found out that no, they won't pay for that either (same as above, just part of the fake tooth). So I'm faced with a $2500 bill for the bridge or a $1700 bill for the partial. The ladies in billing said they'd never encountered insurance like this.
I still need to get the extraction, which will probably happen in the next week or so - our receptionist is currently in the hospital being treated for a blood clot and will probably be out the rest of the week.
This sucks and it's making me seriously consider my dental insurance choice for the upcoming open enrollment. I've had this insurance since 2004 and it's good. I guess they don't expect me to chew my food with my molars anymore.
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