Cash price for dental cleanings?

[ohyes]

I had three crowns this year. One root canal. Not fun.

You rock, Bestwife! ...but I already knew that.

Seriously, kudos to you. The crown I got last Monday was a wisdom tooth and I'm still recovering,

 

[Bestwifeever]

You rock, Bestwife! ...but I already knew that.

Seriously, kudos to you. The crown I got last Monday was a wisdom tooth and I'm still recovering,

Ow--those teeth are hard to get to. I'm sure your jaw is killing you from keeping your mouth wide open! I had deferred treatment because of travel and thinking I don't know what, the teeth would just get better on their own? duh--so the work sort of snowballed and we finally just did it boom boom boom. So glad they're done--and paid for.

Digression is my middle name

 

[GTFan]

Careington is not insurance, but a discount plan. This plan, which costs $99/year, is what I intend to use:

https://www1.careington.com/MbrFeeSchedules/C500-507.pdf

Costs are cheaper compared to my long-time dentist's quoted cash discount price.

Yep, that's the route we took too - the dentist's front-office lady recommended Aetna Dental Access plan because the $99/yr fee essentially paid for itself with the discounted cleaning/exam/x-rays for the two of us. Plus we get cheaper rates for all other stuff like fillings.

 

[explanade]

If you do a provider search on Carington a lot of the dentists listed show 20% discount.

So it may not be as good as advertised.

I just did a cleaning and exam and they tell me the cash price would be $220. Very steep.

She gets good Yelp reviews which is why I went to her. But no cash price discounts and they're dropping the network that is under my insurance.

Some of the other Carington providers in my area have dental degrees from India or some don't even list their education if they have a web site at all. They don't list whether they're a part of the ADA or CDA either.

 

[jazz4cash]

I miss the coverage megacorp provided for us. Everywhere we went they told us we had great dental coverage. Now on DW's plan and we could not get the insurer we wanted because her dentist dropped them. I pay for one extra exam/cleaning per year and the list price for these is $50/100 in the Baltimore suburbs, but they only charge me $77.

 

[Fishingmn]

I'm doing my dentist's package plan for $290 -

For an affordable annual enrollment fee, you’ll receive 2 exams, 2 cleanings, 2 fluoride treatments, full digital X-rays, office and emergency visits, plus 15% of all other services! Better still, there are no waiting periods, deductibles, or limitations on visits.

 

[kramer]

Here in the Philippines I pay $18 for a thorough dental cleaning and checkup, done by the dentist himself. He has a great reputation and comes from a family of dentists (dad and sisters).

He did a root canal for my friend for about $250 -- four visits of about one hour each. He always provides detailed updates, will go over X-rays in detail with you to show progress, etc.

 

[GTFan]

What a surprise, almost every third-world country will be cheaper for the same service.

 

[athena53]

I had a tooth pulled in Budapest (abscess, had already been root-canallled). We met an American dentist in the Hilton Lounge and when I told him my story (and the fact that it was $78 including a panoramic X-Ray), he said he's done a lot of work fixing problems for people who had not-so-good work done in the old country. You always have to remember that in the case of a bad outcome (which can happen even to good practitioners) you have no legal recourse in most other countries.

That said- my extraction went well and I was back out sightseeing with DH afterwards.

 

[John Galt III]

............

I will warn on people buying on the exchange... I had one early this year and we went to the dentist.... it said 100% for cleanings, however it only paid 50% or so of the bill... they want you to go to the 'cheap' dentists...


...

Agreed. I signed up with Delta Dental on the ACA exchange a few years ago. I called Delta to confirm the coverage before enrolling. But once I tried to use it, the coverage was much less. Lots of phone calls and different incompetent reps, and they said I could appeal it. But it was so aggravating I just canceled my plan (which you could do by simply stopping payment).

I checked out dental plans again this year, but decided to skip it.

 

[Danmar]

I just had my teeth cleaned today. The bill was $129.20 (Canadian), with is $96.00 US at current exchange rates. I paid with my credit card. I have a corporate insurance plan which will reimburse me.

Got mine cleaned last week in Toronto. $216 CDN for cleaning plus exam, no X-rays. Usually get it done in Arizona where it is a little cheaper but not much. Don't bother with dental insurance anymore. Not really worth it.

 

[GTFan]

If you do a provider search on Carington a lot of the dentists listed show 20% discount.

So it may not be as good as advertised.

That 20% discount pays for the yearly cost of the Aetna plan with 4 cleanings/exams. Then we get the same discount for any other work needed, so it's exactly as advertised to me.

Others have speculated that you could just sign up for a month, get the discount card, then cancel. I don't think my dentist office actually checks to see that you're enrolled, they just want to see the discount card (which has your member # on it). I haven't done that but it could work to get you a cheap discount.

 

[explanade]

Well I haven't found a Carington dentist I like so I checked Delta Dental, which has a $80 a year plan.

Some of the dentists listed by both companies either don't list which schools they want to (if they have web sites at all) or they're schools in India or China. But they don't list membership in the ADA or the CDA.

I did find a couple in the Delta Dental HMO Provider network near me who went to schools I recognize and one of them said they're not taking any more Delta Dental HMO patients. Not sure if that means they have an annual quota or an ongoing quota.

I guess it's not a lot of money so it's worth trying one year. How bad could they mess up a cleaning right? Then again, a lot of them seem to be pushing cosmetic procedures on their web site like whitening or teeth alignments, so maybe they just use cheap cleanings to push those cosmetic procedures, in which case they may half-ass the cleanings.

But they all upsell because even $220 cleanings/exams probably aren't lucrative enough.

 

[GTFan]

HMO dentists almost always want to upsell you because they're not making anything on routine stuff. These are the Coast Dental, Aspen Dental etc. dentists out there, and I would avoid them like the plague.

 

[socca]

HMO dentists almost always want to upsell you because they're not making anything on routine stuff. These are the Coast Dental, Aspen Dental etc. dentists out there, and I would avoid them like the plague.

Around 8 years ago, my new medical insurance included dental, so I abandoned my out-of-network dentist and went to Aspen Dental, which was in-network. The Aspen Dental manager refused to do a routine cleaning unless I also signed up for a pricey periodontal treatment. Highly suspicious, I went back to my regular dentist, who said I didn't have periodontal disease. After 8 years, I still don't have it.

The Aspen Dental operation was interesting because it seemed to have high overhead compared to other dentists I had been associated with. There was a dedicated X-ray technician and full-time on-site manager. The dentist seemed very young - perhaps right out of dental school.

Needless to say, Aspen Dental was added to my personal blacklist, where it remains to this day. YMMV.

 

[karen1972]

We buy a package, 2 full cleanings plus X-Rays for $259 plus 20% off any work. Given dental insurance here runs roughly $420 a year, has a $2k max, doesn't cover lots of procedures for at least 6-12 months of continuous payment (or ever), and even then is a 70/30 split, felt like it was fair.

 

[explanade]

Where is here?

Actually $2k in benefits for $420 in premiums doesn't sound that bad.

 

[karen1972]

Where is here?

Actually $2k in benefits for $420 in premiums doesn't sound that bad.

Really I pay that in car insurance and my max benefit is like $350K... so NO I don't think that is a fair trade off... and they actually paid out $7K this year due to an auto accident, it will take them forever to re-coup that... thats a deal.

 

[EastWest Gal]

We were on Delta Dental through my work until going on the ACA insurance in 2015. We got Delta Dental through the ACA. $39.90/year for the three of us. I cracked two teeth over the two years due to old fillings and bad luck and got two crowns. DH and aunt had a couple of fillings redone as well. DS is 24 and has never had a cavity. Still at that cheap rate, it more than paid for itself, just in the cleaning. I think dentists do a little billing over negotiated rates, do we get a bill for $15 a couple of times a year.

DS is staying on ACA and getting a subsidy. His dental insurance will cost $13.30/month. No subsidy.

I found a dental plan through the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is only $46/mo for the two of us. Vision plan is $14/mo. , with copay and discounts on glasses. DH and I are both overdue for new glasses and eye exams. I can't figure out how these insurance companies stay in business.

 

[Surewhitey]

I drive 25 miles to Mexico and get dental cleaning and exam for $30, very good service..

+1
Puerto Morelos Mexico was $300 pesos a couple of years ago. Even at $500, that's only $25... same dentist did a couple of extensions and braces for a friend for around $1100 as I recall.

I recall many Canadians come here due to no dental plan in their social system.