Saving money on dental bills
Question: After a few years of neglect, I had a minor dental emergency and found that I need to spend $7,000 to completely fix my bad teeth. Unfortunately, we don’t have dental insurance. How does your family deal with dental issues? Do you think dental insurance is worth the expense?
Answer: Dental care is important to your health. But there are many different ways to achieve dental health.
In the past we used a “perfectionistic” dentist who prescribed “complete fixes” costing three or four times more than alternate methods. We weren’t comfortable with his philosophy. A good dentist will understand a patient’s financial means and offer various price options rather than a take-it-or-leave-it diagnosis. If your dentist won’t do this, find a different one.
When faced with any large outlay of money, it is always best to become more educated. Get a second or third opinion; visit a local dental school to get input. The more educated you become, the better you’ll be able to determine what is a necessity.
Dental insurance is expensive but when you’re facing a major bill, it might be a good way to go. Another option would be to contact a dental school in your area and compare their pricing. Many offer steep discounts on their services (search here for dental schools in your area) Or you might be better served by a discount dental program. One place to learn about them is at DentalPlans.com.
Spend some time researching and you may find that the time you invest will translate into several thousand dollars’ worth of savings.
If you want to read more about saving on dental care, check out these website visitors' stories.
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Check out information by Weston Price.
Tax Benefit
I read in a newspaper article that if you do end up having to spend a lot of money for medical expenses such as dental work, you can talk to your doctor about spreading the cost over 2 years so that you can itemize the tax benefit for 2 years beacuse chances are you'll max out your medical threshold for the year. At least that way you'll get a few hundred bucks back...... something better than nothing.
You can also negotiate with your doctor about the price or a lot of people go to their native country to get major dental work done to someone that their family trusts.
As far as cleanings and stuff goes, the paper and weekly coupon magazines often advertize for bi-annual cleanings for first time clients as low as $30 to $40 exam, x-ray, & cleaning.
Travel and save
We just received this comment from Derek via email:
My friend is going through a similar experience with an estimated $8000 worth of dental work after looking at the local dental schools. He searched internationally and found several dentists who were trained in US, one even taught at one of the dental schools. Both would do the same work for 1/2 off (and that includes the cost of airline ticket!)
This is another option when in similar circumstances.
Dental expenses
Having spent some time in my youth working in dental offices and now having a sister who is a dental office manager I can tell you that while dental insurance can be helpful, most plans only pay up to a yearly maximum of $1000.00 to $2000.00. Most of them also include out of pockets of up to 50% depending on the service provided. I just recently had to have a root canal, my first ever, and luckily my plan while it only has a $1000.00 yearly max does pay 100%. Unfortunatly, my root canal was 950.00, so the crown that needs to go with the root canal must wait until next year. Checking out dental schools is an awesome idea and I have known people who have done it. Also, check out bartaring websites. There are many professionals who are willing to barter their services if you have something they need. The dentist I used to work for once traded some very expensive mouth work for an exterior and interior house painting. Also get a 2nd opinion, my husband was told he needed about $2500.00 worth of work. We passed, pumping him full of pain pills and antibiotics instead (I know, bad, bad). Fast forward a year we find a new dentist and during the exam says "this tooth, is this the one that bothers you?" and proceeds to grind down a crown that was too large, free of charge....My husband never needed $2500.00 worth of work, it was just a crown that needed grinding. Finally, talk with your dentist and his business office manager ask what kind of arrangements they are willing to make. Some offer discounts for cash paid up front, others will work on payments. There are options you just need to be creative!