This has been a big surprise to me, and a considerable expense. I eat very little carb, so tooth decay does not seem to be a current problem, but all my childhood before I was old enough to make up my own mind about diet made some filled holes in enough teeth to keep a dentist working just to maintain my inventory. Recently I had to find a new dentist, which I always hate considering that they guard their price lists with their lives. I hate it! I took a free exam offer from an office not far away, but didn't follow up on his recs as he impressed me as having too few patients for the years he claimed to have been in his location, too much obvious overhead, and the "exam" was inadequate IMO.
I have no dental insurance, but a storefront opened in my neighborhood which has kind of a doc-in-the-box business plan. They offer an annual "membership" for $129 which gets you free x-rays and exam yearly/ Then the prices for most procedures are in their brochure, and these prices are less than I am used to paying. If you don't take the membership. you pay more. A clerk told me that most people without insurance buy the membership, which I did.
The exam seemed more thorough than any I have ever had. So far I have had one filling replaced, and the base of one tooth where the enamel is being worn away built up with a "porcelain" veneer, which he referred to as a filling, but there was no anchor made, just the surface roughed up. I read the CVs of the owner and the other dentist. They both seem excellent, and their manner is to the point but quite satisfactory. They employ assistants but no hygienists, do the dentist does all the scraping of a cleaning, and techs do polishing. It's less than a 30 minute walk, and I like going to the district anyway, so if I continue to be satisfied they will be my dentists. By scheduling my appointments in the certain time zone, I get mostly the owner which I hope will give me better continuity. The clerks and hygienists are all cute young Asians who are very friendly and seem well trained. Plus, anytime you schedule something they print out what you are having done, and the price, AND ask for a $100 deposit which can be forfeited if you no show. This last part was not too thrilling, but I plan to show up so I guess that is not a deal killer.
Ha