Ask Me Help Desk - Consumer complaint

I have a complaint against an dentist. Before, I went to the office, the lady said there would be no charge. When I got to the office, they said it would be no charge. Then they sent a bill for $75.00 and I reminded them twice what they had said, which they would not admit to, but she did say they didn't have good communication sometimes with each other.

If I don't pay the bill, I am sure they will send it to a collection agency, which could lower my credit score.

Any suggestions or tips will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Suggestions? Pay the bill. Because yeah, they will turn it out to a collection agency. Then you have a collection outstanding AND a strike against your credit both. Is $75 worth what its really going to end up costing you?

No charge for a dentist visit? Where do you live? Heck, just $75 for a dental visit? I want to live where you do!

Pay the bill and be grateful. Just to get in the door and not have anything done costs me $150 at my dental clinic, and I never go unless something needs to be done. The lowest dental bill I've ever had for one visit was over $500!

Pay it.

Alty, what it sounds like to me is, she has Dental insurance, but the procedure is one that's not covered 100% by her policy. Something not unusual, Routine prevention is covered fully by the good ones, partially by the not so good ones but even the best don't cover everything 100%, and I've had some very good coverage much of my life. There are numerous plans out there and all over their coverage will vary from one to the next making it really difficult for someone in the office to make a blanket statement without fully researching the details of her particular plan. But one thing is for certain, among the forms you sign at the office before the procedure is one where you agree to pay anything your insurance doesn't cover. And that applies at any EVERY medical office you get treated at, including emergency rooms. All in all, misunderstanding or miscoding at the billing office, $75 is a small price given what the consequences are. Pay it and dispute it later, but pay it first to avoid the consequences.

Smoothy, we have dental insurance as well, through my husbands work, and we still end up paying through the nose. My daughter needed a tooth pulled and bridge work and after the insurance paid their part we still paid $1800.

At least we have free health care, otherwise we'd be screwed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alty

Smoothy, we have dental insurance as well, through my husbands work, and we still end up paying through the nose. My daughter needed a tooth pulled and bridge work and after the insurance paid their part we still paid $1800.

At least we have free health care, otherwise we'd be screwed.

You are getting screwed on the Dental though... I go 4 times a year for cleaning, have had a crown replaced and a couple fillings replaces and haven't paid a dime out of pocket for years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothy

You are getting screwed on the Dental though... I go 4 times a year for cleaning, have had a crown replaced and a couple fillings replaces and haven't paid a dime out of pocket for years.

Here in Canada, at least in our Province, hubby has one of the best dental plans you can ask for unless you pay privately for a plan, and even then, it's not much better than what we have. It's insane. We can get cleanings every six months for every member of the family, but the plan only covers so much. If you go over, for instance, if you need 6 scalings (whatever that is) instead of the 3 that the plan covers, you pay for the extra 3.

With Syd's teeth she had to have 2 molars pulled, then a cast made to fit for a bridge, then the bridge made, then the placement of the bridge, all in a month, and out of pocket we paid almost $2000. The plan covered $4000. Can you imagine if we didn't have a plan? And 6 months after she got the bridge, it fell out and we just couldn't afford to have it replaced, so now she has two teeth that literally grew in on the roof of her mouth, behind the space where they were supposed to grow. So now they have to be pulled and that will cost another arm and leg, and we're running out of limbs.

Here our dental is very much like your medical in the US. We get free medical services, but dental isn't a part of that. The dental is through the roof and unless you're super rich, you better take very good care of your teeth and hope you don't have any issues. Sadly, we have nothing but issues. Both kids have teeth that grew in badly and need to be pulled, and they both need braces which, even with the plan will cost $20,000 or more each (more likely clost to $30,000). Who can afford that?

It's insane.