My Turn! Freakin' Dental Insurance .....
 

is WORTHLESS!! Had some pain in the gum line where I had broken 2 teeth 15 years ago. Went in today to get it checked out. Turns out I've got a cyst up at the root line either caused by a horizontal root that was missed during the root canal or the remaining tooth fractured. Great. Need the extraction and a bridge put in.

Turns out, BC/BH Dental will only cover the removal. Now I'm going to have to eat at LEAST $4500 for the bridge work. What am I paying this insurance for....just the cleanings?? Seems like I've been paying a ton and got very little in return...

This foikin' sucks. 2010 is turning out to be a big pain in the arse. First we lose a friend on the 2nd now I've got this crap. Is it 2011 yet?? :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::smash:: smash::smash::smash:

they all suck, go toothless

Yup! Mine can fall out of my head for all I care!!!:tooth:

Last year they found a cyst in what was left of my jaw after a lifetime of being a faithful dental patient. 40 years of x-rays and no one ever saw this thing. My agony was the first clue. The surgeon said it will never grow completely back because I probably won't live long enough. I need a Way Back Machine.

I bet that makes you feel "All Warm and Fuzzy "inside.

All the talk about the Health Care reform , but notice not a word mentioned about Dental Insurance when you retire. The Dentists have a great lobby. 3500 for a crown give me a break . How can guys on a fixed income(retired) afford this?
One solution is to pull all your teeth and have false ones put in.
I'll bet that cost and arm and a leg. FishHawk

It's prob.covered under your medical insurance - check with them.

Tried that too but they said it was not covered. Turns out the town got the cheapest dental plan (plan 1 of 3 plans) so basically, it covers cleanings and parts of fillings and the extraction

What a kick in the teeth!

sorry to hear that. Talk your HR rep., you work for a town and most towns are self insured. The town might (but I doubt it) make an exception and decide to cover the bridge work. Can't hurt to ask.

Most dental plans suck. GIC's dental insurance (state employees plan in Mass) has a $1000 per family member maximum coverage.

A root canal will cost $1000+ out of pocket, and that's if you haven't had a cleaning and a filling in the claendar year.

What they consider "usual and customary" for dental work hasn't changed since the 1960s.

Our vision coverage isn't much better, either. I just pay for my glasses out of pocket at Costco, rather than settle for the cheap-assed frames Davis Vision allows me :doh:

My Dad always had lousy teeth. The periodontist bills were completely ridiculous and he could no longer pay the freight when he was retired so his teeth got even worse. Two years ago, my sister and I chipped in and got him dentures (at age 71). They took out all of the old teeth and now he has white, straight choppers with no tooth, gum or jaw pain. He probably should have done it at least 5 years earlier rather than try and save his own teeth.

Under managed care, regular doctors will no longer make big bucks and surgeons are getting forced out of MA due to to malpractice insurance costs, but dentists and orthodontists will continue to have a license to print money. My tax accountant friends tell me their wealthiest clients are the orthodontists. That's the field you want your children to go in to.

We've had managed care for 30 years and Drs. have done pretty well.

I'm laying off the Skittles.

Just got back from emergency visit to the dentist for a tooth... being sent to the root canal specialist at 4:15. No meds until I see him though. The beotch of it all is this; this tooth has already had a root canal, which had to be redone because the first guy missed a root. So I was sent to this same specialist who went through the crown to get the root that was missed. So now, maybe ten years later, I am facing another root canal and another crown......all on the same tooth! Can't wait to see how this one pans out with the charges.... But right now, I just want some drugs.....

Saw the oral surgeon Friday. He had some great news. Even with the removal and bridge, he's not sure if it will correct the problem. Great...5 grand for a crap shoot? I could do better at Foxwoods !
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Works for me. It also makes grocery shopping a breeze. One trip down the baby food aisle and I'm outta there. Dining out's a bit of a challenge, but I never liked tipping snotty waiters anyway.