The Deep Clean Scam

[Zee09]

Monday, I woke up with an abscessed tooth. It was a 20-year-old root canal that
decided to go full bore with pain. Only root canal I have ever had, and I still have all my teeth.
My dentist is no longer in business, and I have to go in network with my new provider.
I called around and was offered from 30-90 days just to be seen. Yes really.

I found a local dentist that I called, and they said we can see you mid-September.
With this kind of pain, I would be dead. lol

I got educated pretty quick as I only go when I have an issue.
The local dentist started off the conversation with how clean are your teeth?
When was the last time you were at a dentist and all of that.
I told her thanks, but I need to resolve this sooner than later.

Thirty minutes later she called back and said If I could get there in one hour, they have an opening.
Bear in mind she was told my exact situation in detail. So, I get there and fill out 20 minutes of forms which is normal.
Do I see the dentist... nope. I get 18 x-rays and my teeth cataloged with pictures.

They start trying to sell the "deep cleaning" nonsense and are contacting my insurance.
I said I am not here for that. The #19 tooth is the issue.
I see the dentist for 5 minutes and she says we don't do the retreatment here . You have to go to an Endodontist for
that.

So, they hook me up 60 miles away and I have to wait until 8/22 for that.
This whole visit was nothing but a scam and after this I read up on the deep cleaning and it
simply is a deep wallet flush.

This is not an attack on dentist as my old one was great and never tried stuff like this ever.
After more reading this seems to be the new scam, and many say the deep cleaning at nearly $2000 was
simply a regular cleaning and nothing more. Live and learn.

I try not to go to doctors as personally I never get any resolution.
My general doctor has had his staff weekly call me that I have to get in there quickly.
I finally agreed and she said we can see you October 16th.
I told her I am starting a new insurance in October, and you are not in my network.

Further calls for my tooth issue resulted in either we are not accepting new patients or several months out.

 

[KCJeep]

You’d think the insurance companies would be all over the deep clean and that would be the end of that.

 

[cptbarkey]

My dentist who i had for 15 years was deep in his 60s and finally set himself for a well deserve retirement about 4 years ago. He felt comfortable doing some root canals but would refer to a specialist for complicated work. I was extremely happy with him. He sold his practice to a younger lady. I gave her a try and pretty much got the same "over" treatment evaluation. However, my 3 children all go to a "dental smiles" franchise and we have gotten good service.

Try word of mouth for a family dentist, scam stuff seems endemic.

 

[Zee09]

You’d think the insurance companies would be all over the deep clean and that would be the end of that.

I will be calling mine. We totally agree.
Sad. Who answers the phone for an emergency and asks, "how clean are your teeth?"
I posted this for other folks here because most are unaware of it.

 

[Pew]

My lady friend works for a dentist; deep cleans are not a scam but depending on how bad your teeth are is up to your dentist, so they can say you need one when you don't. Bad plaque and tartar buildup is one reason as well as how bad your gums are receding. I know I need one as I smoke and my gums right now are at risk of getting that gum recession disease. Some folks are at a higher risk than others.

X-rays and a general check up, stuff as far as I know is standardized and covered at least once a year when you haven't been to a dentist in so long - the dentist needs to be able to see what you need when they can't get previous X-rays sent to them.

I'm assuming they refer to that Endo office specifically and that's why they referred you out there but I think PPO insurance should let you go see an Endo of your choice if you decide.

Hopefully @PWMDMD can chime in.

 

[CKN]

Monday, I woke up with an abscessed tooth. It was a 20-year-old root canal that
decided to go full bore with pain. Only root canal I have ever had, and I still have all my teeth.
My dentist is no longer in business, and I have to go in network with my new provider.
I called around and was offered from 30-90 days just to be seen. Yes really.

I found a local dentist that I called, and they said we can see you mid-September.
With this kind of pain, I would be dead. lol

I got educated pretty quick as I only go when I have an issue.
The local dentist started off the conversation with how clean are your teeth?
When was the last time you were at a dentist and all of that.
I told her thanks, but I need to resolve this sooner than later.

Thirty minutes later she called back and said If I could get there in one hour, they have an opening.
Bear in mind she was told my exact situation in detail. So, I get there and fill out 20 minutes of forms which is normal.
Do I see the dentist... nope. I get 18 x-rays and my teeth cataloged with pictures.

They start trying to sell the "deep cleaning" nonsense and are contacting my insurance.
I said I am not here for that. The #19 tooth is the issue.
I see the dentist for 5 minutes and she says we don't do the retreatment here . You have to go to an Endodontist for
that.

So, they hook me up 60 miles away and I have to wait until 8/22 for that.
This whole visit was nothing but a scam and after this I read up on the deep cleaning and it
simply is a deep wallet flush.

This is not an attack on dentist as my old one was great and never tried stuff like this ever.
After more reading this seems to be the new scam, and many say the deep cleaning at nearly $2000 was
simply a regular cleaning and nothing more. Live and learn.

I try not to go to doctors as personally I never get any resolution.
My general doctor has had his staff weekly call me that I have to get in there quickly.
I finally agreed and she said we can see you October 16th.
I told her I am starting a new insurance in October, and you are not in my network.

Further calls for my tooth issue resulted in either we are not accepting new patients or several months out.

Your post is full of misinformation. First let's start with the basics. Medical professional have found a direct link between "mouth health" (i.e. teeth/gums) and general health. (Heat disease and others). If you are not going in for regular cleanings-your gums probably are not in the greatest shape. X-rays are used to see cavity's that can't been seen with a naked eye. Lastly a "deep clean is actually cleaning below the gum line around the teeth vs. a regular cleaning that is the surface of gums and teeth.

Just because you don't practice general health in regards to YOUR MOUTH/TEETH doesn't mean you can come on here and say the whole thing is a rip-off. You seem to have a general mistrust of the medical field in general.

Your post begs for additional questions but I won't go there...

 

[stormgol]

i was in florida this past december. i drove there. about 7000km round trip. i was in a condo in madeira beach. about 5 days before christmas i started having tooth pain. one of my largest molar. my nephew called many dentists back in quebec, but they all told him they were closed until the 7 january or later. the pain was too much. so we called a dentist in the madeira beach area. he told us to wait an hour and that he would find someone. half an hour later, i got an appointment with an ondodontist in st petersburg. she saved my life. if not for her, i would have been in a world of pain for almost a month. she is a russian lady. i had never seen a place so advanced technologically as far as dentistry goes. i felt like i was in some science fiction movie setting. it cost me 1600 us dollars. but it was a tooth with 3 root canals. the procedure took 2 hours.

https://www.downtownendod.com/meet-us/dr-elena-kan/

 

[AutoMechanic]

Sorry for your pain Jim. Sorry the tooth medicine I mentioned didn’t work either. Wish you were here my dentist is great guy. And takes payments too.

 

[stormgol]

Your post is full of misinformation. First let's start with the basics. Medical professional have found a direct link between "mouth health" (i.e. teeth/gums) and general health. (Heat disease and others). If you are not going in for regular cleanings-your gums probably are not in the greatest shape. X-rays are used to see cavity's that can't been seen with a naked eye. Lastly a "deep clean is actually cleaning below the gum line around the teeth vs. a regular cleaning that is the surface of gums and teeth.

Just because you don't practice general health in regards to YOUR MOUTH/TEETH doesn't mean you can come on here and say the whole thing is a rip-off. You seem to have a general mistrust of the medical field in general.

Your post begs for additional questions but I won't go there...

2000 bucks for a deep clean is a rip-off.

 

[Zee09]

Your post is full of misinformation. First let's start with the basics. Medical professional have found a direct link between "mouth health" (i.e. teeth/gums) and general health. (Heat disease and others). If you are not going in for regular cleanings-your gums probably are not in the greatest shape. X-rays are used to see cavity's that can't been seen with a naked eye. Lastly a "deep clean is actually cleaning below the gum line around the teeth vs. a regular cleaning that is the surface of gums and teeth.

Just because you don't practice general health in regards to YOUR MOUTH/TEETH doesn't mean you can come on here and say the whole thing is a rip-off. You seem to have a general mistrust of the medical field in general.

Your post begs for additional questions but I won't go there...

For your information as usual your assumptions are fool of it.
I have no cavities according to the X-rays and take great care of my teeth and have no gum issues.
I am not a smoker and I saw every photo on the screen and am not a candidate for deep cleaning.
That said it sounds like you are part of the community you are protecting with your uninformed garbage post.

Who demands to know how clean your teeth are on your initial phone call unless they have an agenda?

 

[CKN]

2000 bucks for a deep clean is a rip-off.

Do you have an office full of assistants, payments on sophiscated medical equipment, phones, malpractice insurance, utilities? How much schooling and and what costs? The word "rip-off" is thrown around a lot on this forum form guys who brag a DIY oil change costs them $20.00.

 

[CKN]

For your information as usual your assumptions are fool of it.
I have no cavities according to the X-rays and take great care of my teeth and have no gum issues.
I am not a smoker and I saw every photo on the screen and am not a candidate for deep cleaning.
That said it sounds like you are part of the community you are protecting with your uninformed garbage post.

Who demands to know how clean your teeth are on your initial phone call unless they have an agenda?

OK great. You are one of the lucky ones who have a good mouth with at home care. Good for you. Your post is still full of misinformation.

 

[Zee09]

OK great. You are one of the lucky ones who have a good mouth with at home care. Good for you. Your post is still full of misinformation.

So is yours. I gave no misinformation. I gave an actual account of what went down.
I have no issues with costs as I have been in business for decades.
The fact that they called me in later that day when they knew they could not fix my tooth was simply generating a bill.
All they did was delay me in getting an appointment from someone that could help me.

 

[Pew]

So is yours. I gave no misinformation. I gave an actual account of what went down.
I have no issues with costs as I have been in business for decades.
The fact that they called me in later that day when they knew they could not fix my tooth was simply generating a bill.
All they did was delay me in getting an appointment from someone that could help me.

On the flip side, the Endo would have done the same thing, taking X-rays and the "full 9 yards" themselves anyways, and probably would have charged more as they're a specialist office.

Yes some offices are scammy but that does not mean deep cleaning is a scam per se.

 

[CKN]

Ok


On the flip side, the Endo would have done the same thing, taking X-rays and the "full 9 yards" themselves anyways, and probably would have charged more as they're a specialist office.

Yes some offices are scammy but that does not mean deep cleaning is a scam per se.

Exactly.

 

[Zee09]

Ok


On the flip side, the Endo would have done the same thing, taking X-rays and the "full 9 yards" themselves anyways, and probably would have charged more as they're a specialist office.

Yes some offices are scammy but that does not mean deep cleaning is a scam per se.

I have no problem with the checkup. Its required but why waste my time when they knew why I was there.
Let the Endo do it. I have no issues with the checkup. They need to see what issues I could possibly have.
I have great insurance and these things are covered but I will not let anyone fleece my insurance just because I won't be getting the bill.
That just makes everything more expensive for everyone else.

 

[CKN]

I have no problem with the checkup. Its required but why waste my time when they knew why I was there.
Let the Endo do it. I have no issues with the checkup. They need to see what issues I could possibly have.
I have great insurance and these things are covered but I will not let anyone fleece my insurance just because I won't be getting the bill.
That just makes everything more expensive for everyone else.

This is great. Having insurance and still griping about it. Do you always got in to a medical professional and TELL THEM what your problems are? Tell them they don't need to run tests? I'm curious.

OK-I said I wasn't going there-I couldn't help myself....

 

[Zee09]

This is great. Having insurance and still griping about it.

Exactly. I protect my insurance and I care about the services it is charged for.
People with integrity do those things. You still miss the point. The only reason they called
me back was they seen a cash cow and got their share before someone else.
If it was a stealership as they call it here, there would be 100 posts attacking them.

 

[mk378]

Do you always got in to a medical professional and TELL THEM what your problems are?

Yes exactly. You held the strong non-professional opinion that it was a problem that a general dentist could treat. Once you finally did see the actual dentist-- the only person qualified and licensed to make a medical decision-- she said it would require a specialist. That was the 5 minute conversation that was apparently handled professionally. They didn't call back after that did they?

 

[JHZR2]

They need to pay for their debts and cars and office, as well as all sorts of labor to deal with billing and insurance shenanigans.

Sounds insane all the same. I would suspect that there is a good service where a hygienist spends more time than a regular cleaning, and it may be worth it in some cases. But $2000 for it? If they could not state plainly what it included to justify the cost (besides the dentist’s boat payment), I’d agree it’s probably a ripoff.

A $120k/yr hygenist probably has a burdened cost of labor (including business OH) of $250-300k/yr. At $300k/yr in a 2000hr work year that’s $150/hr burdened cost of labor. Is the deep clean really 13 hours long??!?

You can thank the medical trade lobbies for pushing the arbitrary limit on number of graduates.