kids' dental expenses

[TBH]

I just found out today my son (age 3) needs almost two thousand dollars worth of dental work.

Two months ago, I decided NOT to get dental insurance for him since it would have cost me $300/year and his dentist is out-of-network anyway.

Turns out I could have submitted claims even tho the dentist is out of network.

Darn darn darn.

I just thought I'd post this little reminder--insurance is a good thing.

I am upset that I have to come up with $2K, but I am even more upset that my little guy will have to be knocked out to have all this major dental work done.

What a bad day. At least he was very brave during the examination. He cried, but he let them do what they needed to do. I was very proud.

[creditcardfree]

Wow! That is a lot of money for teeth on a 3yr old whose teeth will fall out in 3-4 years. What was the problem?

You make an excellent point though, I think my cousin didn't get dental on her five year old that needed some extra work and it cost her as well.

Do you have an EF to cover the bill? Have you already negotiated with the dentist? Would he provide a discount if you paid up front in cash? Just ideas to help soften the blow.

[PrincessPerky]

Can the problem wait a short time till open enrolement starts up again for dental?

[34saving]

Check your medical insurance. I think mine covers the anastegia (okay, that's GOT to be misspelled) if a young child needs major dental work. I want to say it covers root canals too, if that's part of what's needed.

One more thing . . .my youngest daughter has a cleft lip and palate so they're very concerned about her teeth, even though she doesn't have any yet. A quote from one her doctors: "Baby teeth are there to teach them how to brush." The point being, are all of the procedures necessary? (Could some cavities be left? Could a tooth be pulled instead of crowned?) Sorry if this sounds bad, it's just something to consider. Good luck!

[simpleyme]

when my daughter was very small we had insurance and it did not really seem to help I am sure they just charged me extra every time I took her in i cut a check for 800 dollars(over 10 years ago)cost me well over 4 k out of pocket and put us in the poorhouse I finally had to quit taking her

my friend s daughter took her daughter in recently to the same dentist she thought i was being dramatic until she started getting the bills, very unreasonable but this dentist does a lot of charity work for poor children, I guess he has to charge paying customers to cover the rest
Let your dentist know when your insurance will start you normally will find that most of the treatment can wait until after coverage starts

If I had to do it over again I would space the appointments further apart allowing insurance to pay more and ease the payment schedule a bit, also it gives the baby teeth that are not hurting but might need work a chance to fall out and not have pay to cap them
but would keep you on the appointment book in case of an emergency

[MonkeyMama]

I would get 2nd, 3rd opinion. I have no insurance and you do not know how many times I have been told I need thousands of work. I am VERY skeptical of dentists. I have my trusted dentist back home and a friend dentist back home too. I have gotten their opinions many times, I have been looking for an honest dentist up here. sometimes I feel they prey on me because I don't have insurance - I don't know.

The last dentist I tried was very highly recommended from a co-worker with same bad experiences in the past. Well surprise surprise, I needed $3k work. Checked with my dentists back home - consensus = $0 of work. I Am so fed up! We are driving 2 hours for our dentist appointment next saturday. I was starting to question my dentist back home who I have had for the last 30 years, until dh talked to his good friend who just got out of dental school. He gave us some good tips to avoid dentists in big centers and ones who went to private college - they tend to push the envelope on questionable procedures. he said unless I had been homeless in the streets for decades I Would not need these procedures.

Something else to consider. I would never pay that much without more opinions. But it really makes it hard with a little one - to put them through a 2nd or 3rd exam for more opinions.

My son is having his first appointment coming up (he's 3). I had been putting it off (part of it being dentist dread) and I had a friend who's 3yo had needed fillings already. I can't even imagine my son going through that so we made an appointment with our trusted dentist back home - said he would try to look in his mouth, etc. I guess it is getting more important to start younger...

Good luck.

[RJB1180]

in a OT but related comment, remember to log your milage for all the dental trips, if you reach the 7.5% it really helps when tracking your milage as it happens

[ilr58]

in a OT but related comment, remember to log your milage for all the dental trips, if you reach the 7.5% it really helps when tracking your milage as it happens

Good point about the Schedule A medical expenses tracking!

Hopefully, you will be able to work out something with your dentist as far as billing - it just goes to show how we all seem to think that insurance is never important until we actually need it!

[MarianneJ]

Originally Posted by 34saving

A quote from one her doctors: "Baby teeth are there to teach them how to brush."

Oh my goodness, I am appalled by the lack of dental knowledge of most medical doctors! So many of them still think that the mouth is not connected to the rest of the body which is ridiculous, obviously.

Please do not believe this statement!!! I can not stress enough how important good dental health is in children. Those baby teeth may "just fall out" eventually, but in the mean time that child is in pain and can not eat, and may even have trouble speaking. Cavities in primary teeth absolutely can lead to cavities in permanent teeth or other damage to their teeth and jaw. You definitely want to get a child's teeth treated so that he/she is healthy in every part of their body.

To the OP: Having said all of that, if you doubt the sincerity of the diagnosis I would not hesitate to get a second opinion. You may even see if there is a dental hygiene school nearby. They have no reason to over-diagnose and may be able to help you understand exactly what is going on with your son's teeth and if all that treatment is necessary. Another option is to see if there is a dental school nearby - they charge much reduced fees and you could save literally thousands of dollars.

Best of luck to your sweet boy!

[34saving]

Originally Posted by MarianneJ

Oh my goodness, I am appalled by the lack of dental knowledge of most medical doctors! So many of them still think that the mouth is not connected to the rest of the body which is ridiculous, obviously.

Please do not believe this statement!!! I can not stress enough how important good dental health is in children. Those baby teeth may "just fall out" eventually, but in the mean time that child is in pain and can not eat, and may even have trouble speaking. Cavities in primary teeth absolutely can lead to cavities in permanent teeth or other damage to their teeth and jaw. You definitely want to get a child's teeth treated so that he/she is healthy in every part of their body.

Sorry. I must have forgotten what message board I was posting on. Many kids with cleft lips/palate have really really messed up teeth. (Teeth that come in sideways or through the palate or split in two, etc.) Anyway, most of these kids need extensive dental work, but they pretty much save it for their permanent teeth. My point is not that things should be ignored, but that some things might not need treatment (or the same treatment)since the teeth are baby teeth. It's just something to consider.

[PrincessPerky]

some people use 'they are only baby teeth' as an excuse not to brush. That is a very bad thing, on the other hand some teeth issues do not need fixed when a new one is well on its way.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by MarianneJ

Oh my goodness, I am appalled by the lack of dental knowledge of most medical doctors! So many of them still think that the mouth is not connected to the rest of the body which is ridiculous, obviously.

I am a doctor and what amazes me is that insurance companies do not consider the mouth to be a part of the body. You can have the finest medical insurance there is and it won't pay one penny to fix a bad tooth. You must have dental insurance for that. I have dozens, if not hundreds, of patients who have horrendous teeth because although they have great medical coverage, they have no dental coverage and can't afford to pay the dentist.

[MarianneJ]

Originally Posted by 34saving

Sorry. I must have forgotten what message board I was posting on.
I have no idea what this means.

Many kids with cleft lips/palate have really really messed up teeth. (Teeth that come in sideways or through the palate or split in two, etc.)
Yes, I am aware of the effects of cleft palate and cleft lip.

Anyway, most of these kids need extensive dental work, but they pretty much save it for their permanent teeth.
I am not saying that this is the incorrect thing to do in your situation because I am not an expert in cleft lip/palate - nowhere near!

My point is not that things should be ignored, but that some things might not need treatment (or the same treatment)since the teeth are baby teeth.
Perhaps you're correct. I agree that the OP should get a second opinion unless their is obvious decay or damage (which many children have from either disease or circumstance).

It's just something to consider.

I seriously have no idea why you would respond to my post in what seems to me to be a somewhat defensive way. My post was in response to the statement that one of the doctor's made. You stated that he/she said, 'Baby teeth are there to teach them how to brush." I am reading this as "Don't worry about your child's "baby teeth" because their only purpose is to "teach them to brush". Maybe you read something different into it, but since you followed up that statement with "The point being, are all of the procedures necessary? (Could some cavities be left? Could a tooth be pulled instead of crowned?)", I think you took the doctor's statement the same way I did...AND IT IS WRONG!

I was not attacking you. I am trying to educate as many people as I can about the importance of children's oral health. Hopefully others took my post as such and it will be of help to them.

[MarianneJ]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I am a doctor and what amazes me is that insurance companies do not consider the mouth to be a part of the body. You can have the finest medical insurance there is and it won't pay one penny to fix a bad tooth. You must have dental insurance for that. I have dozens, if not hundreds, of patients who have horrendous teeth because although they have great medical coverage, they have no dental coverage and can't afford to pay the dentist.

I agree! Isn't it a travesty that so many people in this country have no means to get dental care? It is really depressing when you think about how many don't have any healthcare at all.

Dental insurance is really a joke. It pays for next to nothing and is almost useless unless you have perfect teeth that have no problems and only need a cursory "cleaning" twice a year. Out of all the people in this country that probably describes about 5% (if that).

I remember when my wisdom teeth were coming in (bothering the heck out of me), and I was actually praying that they would be impacted so my medical insurance would pay because I knew that the dental insurance sure as heck wouldn't!

I am always mentioning dental schools and dental hygiene schools as a great bargain. So many people could benefit from them and many don't think of them when considering how to save money on dental work. My school only charges $5 for xrays and $5 for a "cleaning" and deep scaling and rootplaning is included in that $5!!! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this instance.

[PrincessPerky]

Now why is it that eyes and teeth are not 'medical'? why the sepration?

[34saving]

Originally Posted by MarianneJ

I seriously have no idea why you would respond to my post in what seems to me to be a somewhat defensive way. .

I'm sorry if I came off as defensive, that wasn't my intention. When I said I forgot what forum I was posting to I only meant that I also post on a forum that deals exclusively with clefts, so, in this case, I didn't give appropriate background.

That being said, my daughter's doctor is extremely competent and very used to dealing with kids with very messed up teeth. Again, I'm not saying it's good to metaphorically "throw the baby out with the bathwater", but I do think it's legitimate to evaluate kids' teeth in the context of them not being permanent. Not only because of the cost involved, but also because of the pain of treatment.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by MarianneJ

I remember when my wisdom teeth were coming in (bothering the heck out of me), and I was actually praying that they would be impacted so my medical insurance would pay

Another strange provision - dental work isn't covered EXCEPT for impacted wisdom teeth. That's covered under medical insurance. How did that happen? What made that different than every other dental problem?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

Now why is it that eyes and teeth are not 'medical'? why the sepration?

Unless you are referring to the cost of eyeglasses, eyes are certainly covered by medical insurance. Medical insurance covers eye exams, treatment of eye-related diseases and injuries, surgeries, medications, etc. There is no separate "eye insurance" as their is with dental insurance.

[MonkeyMama]

Originally Posted by RJB1180

in a OT but related comment, remember to log your milage for all the dental trips, if you reach the 7.5% it really helps when tracking your milage as it happens

I'll have to look into that. we are wELL over 7.5% but you generally can not deduct miles for any medical procedures. I thought it was because you had to travel far for special reasons, etc. Though since the only denstist I trust is about 100 miles away maybe I Can - LOL.

[MonkeyMama]

I have wondered that about dental insurance - why it is so separate. Especially when you hear about how connected it is to the health of the rest of your body.

I hear you on the baby teeth thing. You don't know how many friends I know with small kids getting braces and fillings and other procedures. That was just unheard of a generation ago. Remains to be seen if it is good or bad. maybe this is good overall.

The things I have been told (all different with each subsequent dentist) is I need root canals, root planing, all my fillings replaced. The whole "unless you were homeless for decades" was to response to root planing. my dentist looked in my mouth and said there was no way that would be covered by my insurance because I did not have enough buildup (which got me started thinking that was why they were praying on me without insurance - how would I know that since I don't have it). Same with the root canal. Fillings - my dentist said they have plenty of life left and the less often you redo them (& drill down the teeth more) the better. Well I Was told I needed all my filling replaced about 3 years ago and they are going strong - I have had 1 replaced since. Root planing and root canals - some dentists feel this is beneficial to your health I guess but there is a lot of debate out there that these are questionable procedures. I just throw this out because a big part of being frugal is being skeptical with professionals and shopping around. If you are getting sold many of these procedures I think it is beneficial to shop around, and this is where dh's friend got into that dentists who went to private school tend to be very aggressive and push all these procedures whereas public school dentists are more likely to say, hmmmm, this is not necessary and feel it will do more harm.

But like I Said I was starting to wonder if my dentist of 30 years was a quack and I Really needed a ton of work. I Feel more confident today with a 3rd opinion that he is just fine.

What we need is more dentists on this board - hehe. just curious for their 2 cents.

It probably wouldn't be bad to try the dental schools for cleaning - an idea - but I am not sure I would want to get more work done there... I will pay for some experience.