Economy Hurting Dentists

I was at a party the other night talking to a friend of mine who was a dentist. He told me that people are putting off trips to see him because of the economy -- even if they have insurance. He said they "don't want to spend anything -- not even a co-pay."

He noted that his business was down 30 percent versus this time last year.

I realize that going to the dentist is no joy ride and you can skip a trip here and there with little visible problem, but are things really that bad -- that people are now putting off regular medical trips?

Comments

[Jen W]

I would have never expected to get to a point where not only can I not go to the dentist or optometrist, but every weekly grocery trip is terrifying. I can't see how other people can buy anything but the very basics. Not on my paycheck anyway!

[SUSAN]

It is a tough time - but putting off routine medical care is not something to do. If you can't pay your co-pay (mine is $50) - see if they'll let you pay $10 a week. It's easier to fix a small problem than a big one - plus sometimes the real "big ones" aren't covered by insurance (at least in our case they aren't - a check up and cleaning is covered, but a crown is only covered 50% - which runs us $500 out of our pocket now).

Scary times.

[rdzins]

I can totally see why, my dental insurance pays poorly and dentists charge so much. When I went in a few years ago they quoted me 8,000 dollars for 8 teeth, which I wanted to basically cap some of my teeth(4 of them) because one of them was chipped and a few had wore down the enamel on. My daughter just got done with basic dental a few fillings, a couple of sealants, and her teeth cleaned, and after my insurance got done paying it still cost me 650.00. Even the routine care has gotten so expensive it is hard for people to put themselves out knowing that there will be a huge bill they will be accountable for when all is done.

My dad lives in Texas and he had 7 teeth capped and it cost him 1700 dollars, I think I will be making a trip to Texas to get my work done. Something has to be done about how much it costs for these services. In the past I beleive alot of people just "charged" the thousands of dollars they put in there mouth but that isn't going to be happening anymore.

[Jennifer]

I think that question really depends on each person individually. My family has great health insurance, but we do not have dental. This month alone cost us approximately $550. X-ray's, exams and cleanings add up for more than one person. There are plenty of people that do not have that kind of money to throw into dental appointments right now. It is unfortunate, but I won't judge anyone on this issue.

Thanks for the post...

[Tracee F.]

I won't put off cleanings, but I have reasonably good dental. (I have yet to see a *good* dental plan.) But even the co-pays for fillings are prohibitive, and at this point everyone in my family needs quite a bit of work, and yes we've been puting off that kind of stuff.

No dentist I've been to in decades will arrange any kind of workable payment schedule, they all offer some sort of financing through a bank which I won't deal with. My dentist's office last month acted like they were being generous when they offered to let me pay 1/2 of my part of the crown I needed that day when the temp was put on and the other 1/2 two weeks later when the crown came in... each payment was well over $250. My only saving grace was that I've got some emergency funds put away, but I can't take another crown or car repair anytime soon.

[Marilin]

I'm not, I don't make that much ($18 an hour, 40 hours a week) and am quitting my job and moving across the country with my husband. But it's BECAUSE the economy is bad and I'm not sure what sort of job I'll get in North Carolina that I'm going to my dentist now. I have pretty good dental (70% is covered, though since my dentist doesn't use the metal fillings they are only covering 50%) and I have secondary dental insurance under my husband. So since I have two insurances, I'm getting all my cavities taken care of now before I don't know if I'll be able to do it later. I'm not sure if this is really the same, since maybe people are just skipping their cleanings and stuff but taking care of major potential damage like I am.

[aa]

When you know filling can usually be done with several months of delay, you know they're not urgent "needs".

[Eric Poulin]

Since I started being self-employed a year ago, I've cut my dentists visits entirely. Unless I have a problem, I don't see a need. Just take care of yourself. Same as a doctor - don't go unless there's problem, so long as you are maintaining your health.

[guinness416]

I've noticed saturday appointments are unusually easy to get. My dentist charges 23 bucks for a swish of fluoride and 26 bucks for a (literally) 5 minute checkup from the doctor after my cleaning. I'm covered through insurance, but not surprised people are cutting back on this stuff.

[game wallpaper]

I don't know that we'll continue to put it off, but I think that some dentists are doing it to themselves. I finally got my wife in (it's been YEARS), and the consultation was $175. Not too bad really. But the dentist wants to do over $3600 worth of work (including some sort of sealant on her teeth) and the kicker is the $550 occlusal (mouth) guard that she "has to have" because we mountain bike.

He made sure to reiterate the need for it NUMEROUS times throughout the exam even though we gave a firm "I don't think so" each time. Oh, and we don't have dental insurance anymore either.

On a somewhat related note, does anyone know anything about the dental discount plans? Aetna dental access, GE wellness plan, dentemax discount plan, etc? I'd really like to get some first hand reports before I drop the $200 to sign us up and just hope that it saves us some money.

[Snappy Headlines]

"Economy Puts Dent in DDS Cash Flow"

[DW]

Are people putting off regular medical trips? Apparently so ..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081023/ap_on_re_us/med_meltdown_health_care_12

[zOrv]

I would like to echo the "dentists are doing it to themselves" sentiment. Our dentist charges considerably more for a routine visit than our family physician does. In fact, I had to take my daughter to an allergist 2 years ago - 2 office calls and tests for $280. Trip to the dentist a few months later - 1 cavity filled, cleaning and x-rays, over $350 after a 20% discount because I am a pastor! Yikes!

[Dr. Farnoosh]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am a periodontist in California and many of my patients are having a tough time because of the economy. I always try to work with my patients because from a health standpoint if you do not take care of your teeth there have been many studies showing it can lead to many other more serious problems like heart disease etc...
As a physician I do not want to see my patients' health worsen. I would encourage anyone with a tight budget who is in need of care to speak with your dentist or healthcare provider and see if they can accommodate you and your financial situation. Its important that you take care of your health, most doctors are willing to help by putting you on a payment plan, care credit and possibly helping you with a price break.

[Polly Poorhouse]

We are absolutely deferring routine medical and dental visits. Luckily we are all in good health, so we don't anticipate any major ill (get it, ill?) effects. Hear's hoping it won't last too much longer. Pretty ironic, when you think about it that we can "afford" to pay hundreds of dollars in credit card interest each month, but can't afford a doctor copay. Something is rotten....

[dr siles]

I think some people are trying to be practical, instead of using their money for the dental transactions, they spend it on things like buying their daily necessities like food & medicine.
-heather-

[rc]

Dental problems only grow worse with time and there is usually no pain if teeth need fillings, once you start having pain, you either need a root canal or the tooth has to be pulled. It's better to keep to regular cleaning appointments so that the hygienist and dentist can check the teeth and detect cavities early so you dont end up having to spend thousands of dollars due to months or years of neglect and lack of professional dental health care, and by the way dental problems can lead to medical problems.

[dentalworker]

Guiness416:
As a dental office employee, I will warn you about those "discount" plans. I have seen firsthand how patients feel about them. Here's how they work:

You pay a premium (usually monthly) and they tell you that you have coverage with in network dentists. What they DON'T tell you is that if you are loooking for a specialist, you are probably out of luck. Our office (we are an endodontist office - root canals) was with one of these plans a few years ago. We ended up discontinuing our relationship with them in 2/2008. It's now June 09, and that company is still telling patients we participate. I called them (again) to complain and finally got an honest rep. That person told me that they did not have any other endos to send them to except for someone 2 to 2.5 hours away. I guess that is why they aren't updating their records.

In addition, you don't have any "insurance". If you need work done, you pay out of pocket for the fees that the provider and the discount provider have negotiated. In our office, the difference between the fees is typically about $150-250. So unless premiums are really low, you could keep that money in your pocket for 12 mos until you need treatment and probably end up having saved way more than the $150-250.

That being said, I would recommend Aetna first because they do seem to have more providers on their Aetna Access plan. Good luck!

[Richmond Hill Dentist]

With these hard economic times, it may be difficult to get the dental care you need. Many dentists offer payment plans that can ease the burden. Dental health should not be neglected as it can have serious consequences on your overall health.

[Lab Tech]

What will really upset you is the dentist's cost for that crown you are probably paying $1000 plus for....I work at a small, quality dental lab. We specialize in crown and bridge work. Our work is typically marked up at least 8 to 10x's. And the dentists STILL want to pay less and less for crowns-leaving quality behind in favor of a cheap product from either an overseas lab or a massive lab that cranks out crowns assembly line style. The lab can be more important than the dentist in a lot of situations. Always ask your doc what lab he is using and make certain (at the very least) that the lab he names is NOT a lab from overseas. Labs in China and Mexico have been known to use LEAD in their crowns. When business is slow many dentists will look for a cheaper lab to use. After all- why should they have to drop their prices to encourage business? They will give you a cheap crown lacking in margin integrity, and the life like quality a decent crown should have, so they can make the same money on fewer patients. There are some great dentists out there that truly care about their patients and want to give them a quality crown. But these are -in my opinion- few and far between. The most important thing to most dentists is their bottom line- not the patient.