The Deep Clean Scam

[mk378]

get the x-rays first as I don't want to redo them.

There is such a thing as bad X-rays. They will not show small features like cracks that are there. I had this happen with a cracked foot bone. The specialist doctor took one look at the X-ray films sent from the original office and said "These are terrible X-rays" and had a new one taken. I still didn't see the crack until he pointed it out, it was visible on the new X-ray but not the old one. To me as an admitted layperson taking a quick over the shoulder look they looked the same -- you know, bones.

Dental X-rays are all digital now and cost very little to take. My dentist will have the assistant X-ray problem areas as necessary and doesn't charge extra for the X-rays.

 

[64bawagon]

Its almost as though BG has branched into dentistry.
Sorry, I had to say it and it should be viewed with the utmost degree of sarcasm.
Unfortunately I have had similar issues with dentists and am on the verge of starting the search for a new one since the office I had used for the last 10yrs or so was sold and now all of the sudden they want to schedule me for fillings that were supposedly noted before the sale and no one ever told me about. I think someone has a seasonal boat slip payment coming up. I dont like dealing with people that make me feel like I am being hustled. I had some health issues last year and got run through the gauntlet during that mess.

 

[Zee09]

Its almost as though BG has branched into dentistry.
Sorry, I had to say it and it should be viewed with the utmost degree of sarcasm.
Unfortunately I have had similar issues with dentists and am on the verge of starting the search for a new one since the office I had used for the last 10yrs or so was sold and now all of the sudden they want to schedule me for fillings that were supposedly noted before the sale and no one ever told me about. I think someone has a seasonal boat slip payment coming up. I dont like dealing with people that make me feel like I am being hustled. I had some health issues last year and got run through the gauntlet during that mess.

Exactly that's where I came from too...I have medical fatigue and I am soured because it seems you can never get resolution no matter how many doctors you go to.

In my experience nobody cares at all.

 

[64bawagon]

I worked in EMS as a paramedic for 25 yrs, nothing shocks me in the medical field. Lots of people have this God complex about Doctors. Personally I believe they are just humans prone to the same failings as all of us. Theres good ones and bad ones, honest ones and liars.

 

[dumkid]

I always figured doctors were like mechanics. They try and fix stuff but sometimes it's hard to find the cause of the problem or multiple things are broken so they can't give you a clear answer, and they want to make sure what you say is broken is actually broken before they try and fix it (diagnostics)
There's also doctors who are like the mechanics that change $1000 for some brake pads

 

[Zee09]

I talked to a customer of mine from Thailand yesterday. He just had a root canal done. Got in the same day and the procedure and meds were $30 without insurance...

I told him what that cost over here and I think he had a stroke..

 

[levi]

Hop a plane to Thailand? Gee whiz that's cheap!

 

[Zee09]

Hop a plane to Thailand? Gee whiz that's cheap!

You know he told me the same..lol.
He said many Americans do..

 

[walterjay]

Sadly many Americans fly out of the country for medical procedures.

 

[Zee09]

Sadly many Americans fly out of the country for medical procedures.

At least in Thailand a deep clean would be $20 instead of $2000

 

[dumkid]

My grandparents go to Mexico for dental work

 

[Pew]

My grandparents go to Mexico for dental work

Some coworkers that retired to AZ drive down South of the border for their meds also

 

[walterjay]

My wife gets a prescription from Canada for one quarter the cost in USA.

 

[Zee09]

My wife gets a prescription from Canada for one quarter the cost in USA.

I used to do the same but the fentanyl crisis scared me off foreign mail order meds..
Plus now most are free with my insurance.

 

[mk378]

The fake pills that aren't supposed to be narcotics generally don't have any active ingredients at all. Though some of them contained lead-based paint to get the color right.

 

[billt460]

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.

I know this is an older thread, but I've been down that same road. I had a really good older dentist that I saw for years. He told me on my last visit, (for a routine 6 month normal cleaning), that he was retiring. So I had to find a new dentist in the same insurance network.

He told me that I had very good teeth for someone my age. And to just, "keep doing what you're doing", and you'll be fine. We shook hands and I was on my way to get screwed.... I just didn't know it yet.

Several months later I contacted a new dentist near me for what I told them was to just have a normal, routine cleaning. (None of this Novacane Deep Cleaning B.S.) I go in and get the same deal you got. 458 X-Rays, and told I must have an anesthetized, "deep cleaning".

This guy proceeds to look at my mouth while telling the hygenist, "he needs a crown here, 2 more there, plus at least 3 cavities filled". He told me the girl up front would set it all up for me. (How kind of her).

She told me they could see me 2 months later, and all of it would require several visits to complete. I asked her what all of this was going to run, and she said it would all, "be in the neighborhood" of around $2,500 to $3,000....

This after being told a few months prior that my teeth were fine. Needless to say I couldn't get out of the joint fast enough. The worst places are these franchised, "dental centers", like "Smile Bright" and "Aspen Dental". They'll bend you over as soon as you walk through the door.

 

[Zee09]

I know this is an older thread, but I've been down that same road. I had a really good older dentist that I saw for years. He told me on my last visit, (for a routine 6 month normal cleaning), that he was retiring. So I had to find a new dentist in the same insurance network.

He told me that I had very good teeth for someone my age. And to just, "keep doing what you're doing", and you'll be fine. We shook hands and I was on my way to get screwed.... I just didn't know it yet.

Several months later I contacted a new dentist near me for what I told them was to just have a normal, routine cleaning. (None of this Novacane Deep Cleaning B.S.) I go in and get the same deal you got. 458 X-Rays, and told I must have an anesthetized, "deep cleaning".

This guy proceeds to look at my mouth while telling the hygenist, "he needs a crown here, 2 more there, plus at least 3 cavities filled". He told me the girl up front would set it all up for me. (How kind of her).

She told me they could see me 2 months later, and all of it would require several visits to complete. I asked her what all of this was going to run, and she said it would all, "be in the neighborhood" of around $2,500 to $3,000....

This after being told a few months prior that my teeth were fine. Needless to say I couldn't get out of the joint fast enough. The worst places are these franchised, "dental centers", like "Smile Bright" and "Aspen Dental". They'll bend you over as soon as you walk through the door.

Well said....the same here. It's a huge undertaking to replace a good dentist or doctor.

 

[PWMDMD]

This after being told a few months prior that my teeth were fine. Needless to say I couldn't get out of the joint fast enough. The worst places are these franchised, "dental centers", like "Smile Bright" and "Aspen Dental". They'll bend you over as soon as you walk through the door.

Corporate dentistry has always been shady and now private equity is taking over dentistry. A Dental Service Organization (DSO) is a fancy way of saying a PE group that buys up dental practices promising the dentist-owner no more HR or general business hassles, reduced costs through exclusive deals they've made with suppliers, just do the dentistry and we'll take care of the rest, and of course a big check upfront. Back in the day, PE used to buy practices and rebrand them under a common branding. Once these places started getting bad reputations they decided it's now best to buy private practices and not rebrand, pretend like nothing has changed, so patients don't know it's now a corporate-owned practice.

The downside to corporate and PE is they take a percent of your earnings after that, you lose autonomy, you lose control, and now there's someone with an MBA in Dallas telling you that you have to be more productive or you won't make your production goals and that promise of less hassle and more money won't come to fruition. All their promises were of course made based on increasing inefficiency and workload because now that you're not dealing with the day-to-day you have more time. PE has already ruined medicine and dentistry, veterinary, physical therapy, optometry are next.