Widows & Widowers Support Group
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Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of a similar problem with a dentist. In Feb. I went for a check up and cleaning - free with insurance - but upon leaving the dentist said "Your teeth needed some extra cleaning so I charged your insur co a little more than usual". The receptionist then told me I owed $115 and I asked about the price and she replied that was what I owed. With all the other problems going on I just paid it and left.
Long story short, in April he recommended a root canal be redone due to infection - but no real discomfort . I asked how much I would pay after insurance and he said about $400. He sent me to a specialist for a root canal - $400 Then I needed to return to dentist for cap. Realized the dentist hadn't mentioned the cost of cap but have had a cap before & thought it would be an additional $400.
Went to dentist - he gave me novicaine - I asked how much it would cost and he said - $1200 and you have to pay me the full amount today. I flipped out. He told me my insurance had reached its limit and I was responsible for the rest. I said "how could I have reached my limit - I haven't had anything done all year". He told me it was my fault and my responsibility to keep track of insurance not his, that I would be wasting 2 hours of his time if I did not have the work done then, I began to tell him my house problems & financial mess right now and he said "don't tell me your problems". I got up to leave and he said "I normally charge $125 per hour for a patient to cancels but considering your circumstances I won't. I left crying - I have a half done root canal/cap
I went online to check my insurance and found that my check up in March he charged the insurance co $1400 for a deep cleaning without my knowledge. I am furious. I contacted the insurance co and filed a complaint.
This dentist saw my husband a couple of times. He knows my financial situation, knows I was let go from my job for a while, working 2 jobs and stressed to the limit, knows about the grand mal seizure my son had, and that I am overwhelmed right now. I really think he used that to take advantage of me.
(This is the dentist who told me that when I had a tooth pulled last year for a failed root canal that I needed an implant - I should not consider a bridge - because a bridge will ONLY last for 35 years and then I would need it redone! - I'm 55 now!! He is upset I have done nothing about it.) And - no - I am never seeing this dentist again.
Long story short, in April he recommended a root canal be redone due to infection - but no real discomfort . I asked how much I would pay after insurance and he said about $400. He sent me to a specialist for a root canal - $400 Then I needed to return to dentist for cap. Realized the dentist hadn't mentioned the cost of cap but have had a cap before & thought it would be an additional $400.
Went to dentist - he gave me novicaine - I asked how much it would cost and he said - $1200 and you have to pay me the full amount today. I flipped out. He told me my insurance had reached its limit and I was responsible for the rest. I said "how could I have reached my limit - I haven't had anything done all year". He told me it was my fault and my responsibility to keep track of insurance not his, that I would be wasting 2 hours of his time if I did not have the work done then, I began to tell him my house problems & financial mess right now and he said "don't tell me your problems". I got up to leave and he said "I normally charge $125 per hour for a patient to cancels but considering your circumstances I won't. I left crying - I have a half done root canal/cap
I went online to check my insurance and found that my check up in March he charged the insurance co $1400 for a deep cleaning without my knowledge. I am furious. I contacted the insurance co and filed a complaint.
This dentist saw my husband a couple of times. He knows my financial situation, knows I was let go from my job for a while, working 2 jobs and stressed to the limit, knows about the grand mal seizure my son had, and that I am overwhelmed right now. I really think he used that to take advantage of me.
(This is the dentist who told me that when I had a tooth pulled last year for a failed root canal that I needed an implant - I should not consider a bridge - because a bridge will ONLY last for 35 years and then I would need it redone! - I'm 55 now!! He is upset I have done nothing about it.) And - no - I am never seeing this dentist again.
I've never had a dentist that required a large payment like that in full. As matter of fact my husband had to get dentures and it took us over a year to pay for it all. He hated them and never wore them but that's another story.
I hope the insurance company investigates him and that you will get satisfaction you deserve!
Carol
I went to a doctor last year...my eyelid was swelling. I had just gotten new insurance. Before that, I only paid $50/visit. Since I now had insurance, they did labwork and ran an EKG.....not really sure why they did the EKG. Thinking back, I should have refused it. So the doctor comes back in the room. Though I kept prodding him about my eye, he came up with a bunch of other stuff including telling me my heart was enlarged! I asked him how the hell he knew that! He hadn't even done a chest xray.
When I got the bill, after paying my $30 deductible, the visit alone was billed as $120, plus the additional tests. I was billed an additional $95. I never did pay it and throw them in the garbage when they come now. I refuse! I went to another doctor who told me the guy sounded like a quack. I agreed. Had no problems there at all.
ADA contact them, they give you addresses for complaints, I was told by my dentist friend you got took - all dentists are supposed to be up front with what is being done, costs etc before any work to be done.
You need to file a complaint he says these guys give him a bad name, and they need to be eliminated.