Dental Drama

While it’s not a favorite way to pass the time, I don’t mind going to the dentist. I’ve had a variety of procedures, some simple, others more complex, and for the most part, they haven’t been anything that I haven’t been able to handle, implants included. And, for the most part, the dentists themselves were great to deal with.

And then, there’s the drama.

I remember one dentist who would put a Harley-themed clock in the closet on his partner’s day off. It belonged to his partner and would rev up on the hour and half hour and he didn’t like it. I have one of those clocks and there’s nothing irritating about it. In fact, most people laugh when they hear it. The sound doesn’t last long and as far as I’m concerned, that guy had issues. He had trouble relating to me and never spoke to me with any respect. He would assume I wouldn’t cooperate (which wasn’t remotely true) and then condescend throughout the conversation. Eventually, I found someone else.

My medical and dental insurance at the time, Tricare, was provided by the Veteran’s Administration. It wasn’t the best, but at least it was something. The problem was, however, that medical and dental facilities who accepted my insurance also had to use a fee schedule that no one wanted to accept. They all have a choice to be a network provider, so they could always refuse, but if they stayed in the network, they had to use the fee schedule.

Whereas most of the dentists I saw over the years might start out using the fee schedule, as more expensive work was needed, I would begin to hear, well, OUR price for this procedure is this… words that should have never been uttered without the caveat that we’re no longer a network provider. Because without that, charging more than the agreed upon amount is insurance fraud…and all I could think was, bait and switch.

One dentist pulled that after not ever doing so and was forced to refund nearly $400 to me, losing me as a patient in the process. Another gave confidential financial information to a specialist without being asked for it, not that anyone should have in the first place. They decided the best course of action after making the referral five weeks late was to tell them that we owed them over a thousand dollars which wasn’t true. The Veteran’s Administration owed them that money and simply hadn’t cut them a check at that time. It was received a few days later, but it was never a bill that my husband should have even seen, let alone tell another dental office about. The discussion was had within earshot of everyone in the office, patients both in the waiting and exam rooms heard everything. They heard me explain it wasn’t our bill, along with the staff member’s statement that they didn’t ask for this info. So, I left, never to return. I emailed the dental office in question and got a condescending and snippy response. So, I left again, never to return to any dentist until my tooth broke apart last week and I needed a crown.

I suspect my insurance was the issue because whenever I saw a dentist outside the network, I only had to deal with personalities, never any bullshit like insurance fraud. They billed my insurance and my cost share was higher. It was what it was, but I shouldn’t have had to do that just to have a relationship based on honesty and integrity.

All any of the dentists had to do was to write a letter to my insurance company and ask to be removed from their provider list. A month later, they would no longer appear. However, they might lose future business which I’m sure that no one wanted to experience. I understand that it’s extraordinarily expensive to have a medical or dental practice, but that’s not really the patient’s problem. And if the dentist doesn’t want to accept a particular fee schedule, if that doesn’t work for them, then simply don’t do it. Don’t sign up. Because for any patient to hear the crap that I did is unreasonable. It asks us to play along with insurance fraud which no patient should ever be asked to do.

Now that the dental portion of veteran-focused dental insurance has changed to a federal plan, apparently a fee schedule still exists but not at the level of the original plan, so I may have a better experience going forward. My new dentist accepts my insurance (the implant surgeon doesn’t) so in some ways, I’m better off with this policy than with what I had before.

One of the last dentists I saw before my retreat into the dental-free zone was a guy whose office staff assured me that they took my insurance and indeed followed the fee schedule. He did some work and saw dollar signs and wanted to do more. When I scheduled the work, I was told that they wouldn’t be following the fee schedule. I asked them before ever going there if they did that and they assured me that they did not. When I refused to make the appointment, the dentist sent me a two and a half page letter telling me what deadbeats we were for not paying what he wanted, complaining how expensive it was to be in business, etc. I didn’t respond to the letter. He overcharged me by $31.00 and I asked for it back.

I received the refund from the guy who bought the practice. The coward couldn’t even return money he wasn’t owed to someone his staff lied to.

Honestly, I don’t fear the dentist or anything that happens there. I have no problem going and cooperating with what they want to do. I’m one of those team players who simply wants to get to the bottom of what’s going on and then make a plan to deal with it. I never argue about a bill unless they’ve clearly gotten it wrong. If I incur actual charges, I pay them. Call me kooky, but I just don’t want to pay more than I’m supposed to pay.

Even though I’ll be spending the foreseeable future in and out of the dentist office, I’m fine with that because I think I have a good one now. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and they present everything in a clear and concise fashion. The dentist is focused and engaged and he did an excellent job yesterday. Plus, he explains everything…not just what but why. So, even with the sticker-shock this go around, I’m pleased with the guy shepherding my care.

And with luck, no more dental drama.

Blessings!