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  • #1

    I Already Said No

    I went to a new dentist last month for a check-up/cleaning.

    After it's done they tell me I need some fillings. Not surprising. I clean my teeth really well every day, but I eat a lot of junk food.

    So I come back in a couple of weeks to get the fillings. My husband's dental insurance, which I use, doesn't really cover too much, so the fillings end up costing us about $350. Combined with the $50 we were charged for my cleaning, that was $400 we had to put on a credit card for dental stuff.

    Then the next day I get an e-mail from the receptionist saying the dentist wants to go ahead with putting resins on my teeth. I'm like, huh? I thought I was done with the dentist for now. What did I just get charged $350 for the previous day?

    I responded and said that unless my insurance is going to completely cover these resins, I cannot afford to get them right now. Aside from the $400 worth of dental junk we just put on the CC, we also just booked two of our major vacations for this year. Not much room left on the CC's right now, and the dentist office doesn't allow payment plans.

    So then the next day the receptionist e-mails back and says No, the insurance will not completely cover it. And - to please call the office and schedule an appointment ASAP for the resins.

    WTF, do you not get that I cannot AFFORD it right now? I know dental health is important, but I just TOLD you that unless insurance will cover it all, I can't have it done right now. I feel like they're harrassing me. I'm just ignoring this for now, and I'll go back in 6 months for my next check-up. Although I wonder if I should switch dentists, because this is so obnoxious that they will not even listen to me.
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  • #2
    I'd call them up and ask them why they'd told me to schedule an appointment after I'd already said I couldn't afford it.

    Not because they'd give any useful answer (though it's possible) but because if enough people do then maybe they'll take the hint.

    (I don't know anything about these resins, but it might be that the benefit of getting them done now, rather than next year or never, would be worth foregoing a vacation. That or misunderstanding your reply would be valid reasons for the answer they gave.)
    "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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    • #3
      While my actual dentist is great, I've had hygienists who push a lot of cosmetic crap like veneers and bleaching, and the fancy Soniccare toothbrush. "Well, you do a good job with the manual brush but" No, no but. I do a good job with the manual brush and floss and don't have $100 to spend on a toothbrush. End of story.

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      • #4
        If the vacation is already booked, there's likely not a whole lot of value in foregoing it, as charges are usually non-refundable, so the money won't come back.

        ^-.-^
        Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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        • #5
          I hate pushy dentists and assistants.

          My dental insurance is also pretty bleh, and they were so adament that I had to have my wisdom teeth removed (not because they are in the way or anything, just because they exist), and that very first appointment, they were pushing for me to make the appointment to have them all removed.

          Yeah, with insurance, that's still several hundred dollars out of my pocket, one or two days off of work, and not even necessary. I said no, and that I couldn't afford it and didn't think it was necessary.

          That's when the assistant said "Well, if you quit smoking, you'd have the money saved up pretty quickly!"

          Yeah. Because if/when I quit smoking, all the money I save, the reward is going to be having teeth removed that don't need to be. I think not.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by blas87 View Post
            I hate pushy dentists and assistants.

            My dental insurance is also pretty bleh, and they were so adament that I had to have my wisdom teeth removed (not because they are in the way or anything, just because they exist), and that very first appointment, they were pushing for me to make the appointment to have them all removed.

            Yeah, with insurance, that's still several hundred dollars out of my pocket, one or two days off of work, and not even necessary. I said no, and that I couldn't afford it and didn't think it was necessary.

            That's when the assistant said "Well, if you quit smoking, you'd have the money saved up pretty quickly!"

            Yeah. Because if/when I quit smoking, all the money I save, the reward is going to be having teeth removed that don't need to be. I think not.
            Like its any of their business. My dentist, or old dentist, used to push me to come in. I can't afford even a cleaning anymore.

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            • #7
              If you're an adult and your wisdom teeth aren't causing any trouble, then they don't need to come out. Some people have big mouths and small teeth.

              (And if they *were* causing trouble... well, in that case giving up smoking might be a way to come up with the money. But then, in that case, having them out is something you really would want and it would serve well as a reward.)
              "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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              • #8
                Was there ever any doubt I have a huge mouth?

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                • #9
                  I hate all pushy people. I hate answering a question more than once or being nagged. If someone asks me twice, I have a tendency to look at them like they're idiots, and talk down to them as if they're a 3 year old, and say something like "Oh i'm sorry, you must not have heard me. The answer is nooooooooo. Do you understand that word? Hmmm? Anything I should know while explaining this? Are you deaf or mentally challenged?"

                  Yes, I'm a pleasure to be around people who piss me off.

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                  • #10
                    My husband goes to this dental office that is actually a chain, and the first time he went he came home and told me that they told him that he needed to buy something that was $300 and how he has to go back to the office and pick it up in a couple of days. I was like, "Huh? What is it?" He said he didn't know. I was like, "Your dentist said you HAD TO buy something that cost $300, and you don't even know what it is you bought??"



                    So he goes to pick it up, and it's an electric toothbrush. I was like, "How did you let them force you to buy an electric toothbrush? You did not HAVE TO buy this." But my husband is really easy-going and non-confrontational and he didn't want to try to return it, although he used it two or three times and reverted back to his regular toothbrush. That seemed really shady, but I can't exactly blame the dental office, because there is no way they would have convinced ME to buy a $300 toothbrush. But I'm sure they snare a fair amount of people.

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