I need help re: dental work

My wife and I recently switched dentists, mainly because our prior dentist didn't display the ability to patch asphalt, let alone provide dental care.

Our new dentist examined all 5 of us (Mom, Dad, 3 daughters) and after expressing outrage at the hack job our prior dentist had done, presented us with a detailed list of work that needs doing. I nearly fell off my chair. It turns out that while we have a dental plan through Aetna, it only covers amalgam fillings. Our current dentist will not use silver amalgam due to health concerns over the mercury content. The resin composite he wants to use is (naturally) more expensive.

My wife and I need lots of work, in part due to the poor quality of the work our prior dentist did. Our daughter however have inherited some of the "bad teeth genes" we have and need some work as well. It isn't nearly as much as we need but getting all of it done will break us financially.

So I guess the question is this. is the silver/mercury amalgam material commonly used a health risk? All of the reasearch we have done leads us to people who have an axe of some sort to grind and as such is hard to trust. Are there alternatives for people who simply cannot afford the high costs? In order to truly correct the problems we have we are looking at mortgaging ourselves to the hilt, and even at that it would be hard. Anyone have any advice on this?

The very first thing I did was have ALL my amalgam fillings replaced with gold (I only have 3) I do NOT want mercury in my body.

you get more in your system that way than thru dental fillings.

We mainly do farn-raised fresh fish.

the farm raised stuff has tons of anti-biotics, which can ultimately be worse than the mercury.

That's bad stuff due to the antibiotics and the fact that they basically live in their own feces. :scared:

Farmed fish are fed ground-up fish, so all the PCBs in those fish get concentrated in the farmed fish.

I stay away from farmed fish now.

If you are looking at spending that much, why not see another dentist for another opinion, first.

No question, we are already doing so. This will be totally out of pocket of course. The trouble is that we know we will hear something very similar from them. The question is whether there is really a reason for the more expensive materials or not. I should mention that here in the Delray Beach Florida area there are few dentists who are even willing to use amalgam material for fillings anymore. It is an odd area in that the people here have lots of money to throw at things, when acquiring any sort of services work the choice is usually between ridiculously expensive or Bob the handyman. No in between.

the level of mercury is so low you probably get more in your system eating fish.

this guy sounds like he wants the money.

But, you know that. Do you live near a School of Dentistry? You may be able to get the work done there at a much more reasonable cost.

I know what you mean about mortgaging yourself to the hilt. It cost me 10k for my dental work. We took out a home equity loan.

My husband pays for dental coverage thru his job and it's worthless. They cover nothing - what's the point. :shrug:

The U made a big deal about how they were gonna FINALLY be offering dental coverage, and gee, it's a plan that only about 4 dentists belong too, andf here's the biggest farce, their annual maximum payment is only $1,000.

WTF can I get done this year for a kilobuck? I need 3 crowns and a bridge.And a new lower partial that doesn't make my mouth sore like the $600 rip-off the town dentist sold me.

I didn't sign up, guess I'll take out a loan and get the damn things fixed....

BTW, my local dentist is a clod, too. He does the drilling, then lets his assistants trowel in that big lump of resin that doesn't feel right...

prioritize.

i've been without 3 teeth in various spots(none in the front tho) for several years because it was cheaper to pull them than treat them. as the insurance money becomes available, i have bridges done.

ps- silver fillings won't kill you...i've got bunches.

I purchased a dental plan online with Southeast Dental. I think it's based in South Florida. It cost me $159 for a family plan, good for a year (with three additional months thrown in, totalling 15 months).

Their fee schedule states that for resin, it would cost you $38.00 for one surface, anterior. For two surface anterior, $48.00. For three surface, anterior, $58.00 There are other fees for four surface and for posterior-permanent. Fees seem to range from $43 - $85/tooth.

They also have reduced fees for semi-annual exams and cleanings too.

I'm not sure if any of this helps you - PM me for more details if you like.

I bought into this because my dental plan from work was very expensive out of my pocket (almost $600/yr) and paid for practically nothing, with absolutely no orthodontic coverage at all. My oldest is needing $3600 worth of braces, and this dental plan got my cost reduced to about $2500. And the closest provider to me is only about 20 minutes away. So far I've found it to be well worth it's initial cost.

Feel free to PM if you want more info.

I agree with shopping around. For one thing, you might be surprised what you find out. Here's an example.

About eight or nine years ago, I had to have a gold onlay as the result of poor dental work. I paid $3500 cash for it. Two years ago I went in to a place down the street for a routine cleaning. This dentist told me there was decay under the onlay and it would have to go. The price was over $3500--almost $5k. I was as sick as you are. I had just refinanced my house and taken out a little to make improvements. This would eat up a good portion of it.

I called the dentist who originally did the onlay and told him what this dentist said. I would have gone to this dentist for the cleaning except he doesn't do that type of work. I should also mention that I was very surprised about the dentist's opinion that there was decay because my original dentist is one of the top people in the field.

After a new round of X-rays, the dentist who originally did the work told me that there was no decay whatsoever under the onlay. This means the other dentist was lying, just to get an expensive job. I was horrified and angry that this guy would put me through that just so he could make five grand. It's not even that much, in the overall scheme of things. What's worse is what I would have had to endure getting the new onlay.

So yes, shop around and network with everyone you can through their dentists.

Another thing you should consider is a malpractice suit against the dentist who did the poor quality work. Perhaps you can recover some of the costs through the suit.

This is a horrible thing to have to go through. My heart goes out to you.


Cher

I was 2 days from getting 2 root canals followed by crowns put on front teeth when I decided to get a second opinion. Second dentist thought the first guy was nuts. I did have a problem with the teeth (pain from trauma), but, a year and a half later, I still have my teeth and don't need root canals or crowns.

Try to find a doctor who works with a dental school (or get work by students -- takes longer, but it's cheap, and supervised by dentistry professors). My dentist works with a big dental school, and he's excellent and seems to know which specialists are the best when he needs to make referrals.

most of them are a bunch of greedy bastards,next time you are in your dentist's office check the magazines in the waiting room,most of them subscribe to right wing rags and most dentist are republicans money mad MF's.

your area. It would be worth checking into for your family.

I suddenly lost my liking for fish of any type.

We have a good plan through the school board, and I have good strong teeth anyway. I got my mom's teeth, she's 78 and can still chew right through a turkey drumstick.

what is she using to chew through that drumstick?

how do you KNOW if the old guys was THAT bad and that the new guy needs a down payment on that beach house.

Just do one of you to guage things.

If the silver stuff was that bad why are they still using it ? I got it and my dentist is no quack. The guy makes novacane shots not hurt at all. Makes him a demi-god at least to me.

Home Depot offers dental coverage to its part-time associates, and our provider (UnitedHealthcare Dental) covers resin composite fillings.

They cover preventive dentistry 100 percent (minus a copay, which is minuscule--twenty bucks or something); they pay 85 percent of restorative care, endodontics, periodontics and oral surgery; half off major services--yes, dentures are covered--on the three highest-end plans; on the two highest-end plans there's a 50-percent orthodontia coverage...$1500 annual benefit on the two highest-end plans. The best one, as far as I'm concerned, is the in-network-only plan. $1500 annual benefit, $25 annual deductible and everything except orthodontia is copay only. You can only go to a dentist in the UnitedHealthcare network on this plan, but the book with the in-plan dentists is bigger than I am (every dentist in Fayetteville is in-network) and you can nominate your dentist for the network. I have this at $30/pay period, my wife has the basic dental plan at $20/pay period (she works there too, and that's what she signed up for) and it's good.

Come pitch 2x4s with us and we'll fix your teeth.

There are some very unscrupulous dentists out there. On the other hand, there are some really great dentists too. The problem is finding the good ones.

I have gone to many dentists for a cleaning and xray and never gone back after being told I need massive dental work. The funny thing is, I've gone to a different dentist after being told that I need massive work and the new dentist won't find a thing.

I'd be really suspicious about a dentist that wants to put in fillings that they know you're insurance won't pay for. A good dentist, in my opinion, will try to work with your insurance to keep costs low for you.

Try to talk to people and find out who they go to. Ask them what work their dentist has done.

Additional question: I'm surprised to hear that fillings of any sort would be so high. Usually high costs are associated with bridges and crowns. I would definitely do some checking around. Just my 2 cents....

I too have had the experience of going from one dentist who saw nothing wrong with my teeth to another who took state-of-the-art photos and videos to show me that my fillings were a mess, I needed umpteen crowns, my gums were falling apart, etc. I paid many thousands of dollars and gone into debt to pay for this, and I stll haven't had all the crowns they recommended. I finally switched to another dentist, who thinks everything is just fine.

I do think that mercury fillings are not a great idea. Mercury is a toxic waste-- it does leach out into your system.

If you pay for your treatment all at once, up front- they give you a 10% discount, but then they submit the full-price to the insurance company, so that you get a bigger re-imbursement from the insurance company.

and if it's the same as this one, contact a lawyer. If your former dentist had been doing his job, you wouldn't need all this expensive work--so why should YOU pay for it?