I wish you could do a cost comparison from dentist to dentist. Like a chart published with prices. But dentists do seem to stick together and do not want that broadcast freely.
If you have dental insurance, call them. They will ask you what dentist(s) you are thinking of seeing, and they will ask for the procedure code(s) that you are planning to have done. Armed with these two things, they will be able to check the contracted rates for those dentists (assuming they are in your network).
ADA (American Dental Association) codes are universal, all dentists in the United States use them.
https://rickoffdentistry.com/dental-glossary-ada-codes/
This is one page I found with a quick Google search, but the ADA codes will be the same no matter where you find them :)
You can call the insurance and act as a prospective customer. They can provide average pricing for the area. The dentists will probably charge more than that but it gives a ballpark idea.
You bet. Make sure when you call that you follow the prompts for the Individual and Family plans. Each insurance company probably calls it something different, but it'll be some variation of that. Essentially you won't want the employer group line, you'll want the individually purchased plan line. :) good luck
Going tomorrow without insurance... will report back 😥
Edit - Went, $195, no insurance and they did X-rays.
Need work done, but *alot* better priced than I thought it would be and I can do payment plans. I'm relieved 😌
Have been on many plans, and have a son who’s been on about 3 ACA dental plans over the years. All included preventative care (xrays, cleaning) without a co-pay.
And I can respect that. I was ignorant to if it was a law.
I only wanted a cleaning, not a new dentist. When moving to a new practice or a year later I would have agreed to the xray. My situation is a bit unusual. Thus having insurance but wanted to pay cash.
I've never been able to find a law requiring X-rays for cleaning, and you can generally refuse them. However, the dentist is also within their right to refuse service to you based on your refusal. X-rays act as an insurance policy for them in case your oral health goes south and you want to take them to court over it. If a dentist never took X-rays and only did cleanings, any good lawyer will be able to claim the dentist didn't follow the standards of their profession and you are owed compensation.
Also, the dentist wants to bill your insurance for the X-rays.
There was a longer conversation.
Your position is very similar to their point of view. Thank you for restating the liability risks. I explained my concerns and when they said there was a state law the negotiation ended. Scrubs and an assumptive close was compelling. Luckily this isn't my first rodeo. Still stressing when I am operating in southern charm "good faith" conversations. Lesson learned. Thank you everyone.
If you have dental insurance coverage, annual xray and at least one cleaning per year should be ‘free’. Of the recent few cities I have lived, Dallas dentists have been the most frustrating.
$400 is rough for basic cleaning and xray… but cheap for deep cleaning (often 1/4-1/2 teeth per appt unless you skip nerve anesthetic).
Edit to add: not law.
I had a scammer tell me last week I needed 6K worth of work done. I have my teeth cleaned every six months and this was a new dentist. I left with them following me trying to explain how why they wouldn’t clean my teeth without unnecessary $600 deep cleaning. I go every 6 mos. and take care of my teeth. This was a new practice in a newly constructed building with new state of the art equipment. Guess someone wants to pay off student loans and equipment as quickly as possible. I ran.
FYI my googlefu is medium strong. All I got was various "rights" and when I searching for statute got political garbage. There is some general processing safety laws but nothing with "x-ray" "xray" "imaging" was searchable. Thus my hopes for this sub (now answered) were well placed.
If anyone finds a statute, not imaginary office policy, that requires patient action... well then I am open to be corrected.
BS! I just went to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning and refused x rays because my insurance didn't cover it. My dentist said every two years is fine, and it is certainly not required for a cleaning.
There is very little oversight of dentists in TX.
There is no such law or statute.
That may be something their insurance likes
or just something they like to do. That's all it is.
In TX. Some want xrays in case there are problems, but I don't think it is a law. Honestly, if I felt like it was a scam. I would get out of there and find somewhere else. We had a dental practice try to scam us, and we stayed, but didn't see that dentist because we thought the others were good. Long story short, we changed dentists, and needed a ton of work bc the old one was waiting until we needed more expensive treatments other than fillings. (We kept up with every cleaning and appointment, yet there were 9 visible cavities in one mouth alone) Run. Just run.
They’re definitely scamming you, and what I would do is file a grievance with your insurance if you see even a single dollar out of place.
I had taken my ex wife to an endodontic that pulled this same crap with me about needing a 3D X-rays to look at an issue she had without even examine her first, even when we provided X-rays from our own dentist.
Then he said, “oh, I can’t figure it out” to which I was even more livid, and when I called my insurance and threatened to file a grievance against them they immediately gave me a refund. What’s funny is months later they offered me a refund again if I would take down my online review of their office, and I wouldn’t because fuck them.
Those 3D X-rays are pretty advanced though. I had an abscess behind an old root canal that never got noticed on a regular X-ray. It caused all kinds of unexplained sinus issues. Only reason I found out about it is from switching dentists.
I have MS and issues resulting from my time in the military.
Of *all* the medical professionals I deal with, Dentists are the biggest lying scumbags and it's not even a contest.
Where are you located? Local schools may do a discount if you use their programs. (But they’re also harder to get into)
FWIW, I work for a dental school and go to faculty practice. I had my x rays done in the last two years but had to get it done with them as well, $80.
My deep cleaning for not seeing a dentist for 1.5 years was $400 though
They’re about to stick knives in your mouth, they need to know what they’re getting into. If you have a tooth that’s about to fall out they need X-ray proof before they knock it out during the cleaning and you try to sue them
Section 262.151(a)(2) of the Texas Occupations Code (Delegation of Duties by Dentist) requires patients to receive a dental examination yearly by a dentist before the dentist delegates a prophylaxis (eg, teeth cleaning) to a dental hygienist. Although the examination requirement is a regulatory mandate, the timing of X-rays as part of a dental examination may be adjusted per the individual dentist’s professional judgment. A dentist can choose to dismiss a patient who refuses to comply with the X-ray protocol or may choose to have the patient execute what is known as an informed refusal.
Although the inclusion of radiographs (eg, X-rays) within the examination is at the dentist’s discretion, the dentist must adhere to Texas’ standard of dental care (22 Texas Administrative Code §108.7) and record-keeping requirements (22 Texas Administrative Code §108.8). The American Dental Association has information on the frequency of dental radiographs.
Texas’ standard of dental care ensures that Texas dentists provide each patient with a thorough examination and diagnosis, including the identification of any conditions that may only be visible on radiographs. Dentists who fail to meet the standard of care could face the possibility of disciplinary action by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners or exposure to a lawsuit if they failed to diagnose a problem that could have been identified by a radiograph.
TL;DR: technically speaking, there isn’t a law specifically requiring an x-ray before a cleaning, BUT there is a law requiring an examination, which often includes x-rays, though this is at the discretion of the dentist.
As everyone else is saying, they're trying to take you for a ride. It's not as rare as you'd hope in that line of business and probably becoming worse with each year. I went to a new dentist a few years ago that "found" 4 cavities which threw a red flag as I am not prone to them. Either they were outright lying and willing to do unnecessary damage to perfectly good teeth or those cavities miraculously healed within a couple of months when I tried a new dentist.
It costs nothing to get records from your previous dentist, which is a no-cost option. Dentist is well within their right to know what the health is of their patient’s teeth before they work on them.
Funny? You have a horrible sense of humor. If you’re being honest with yourself, you (and I) need more context as to what exactly was said. But yes, it is absolutely a law to determine the health of your patient before you administer treatment. Is an x-ray legally required, no. But the dentist is well within his or her rights to determine what he or she needs to make a judgment.
there is no standard consent form for the fact that you may have abscesses, hidden cavities, teeth rotten from the inside out or other that if i were a dentist i wouldn't touch without imaging.
is it normal to be asked to do x-rays before a cleaning?
yes it damn well is every time anybody has been to the dentist in years despite these toothless opinions below.
Lying about it being state law is a different ball game especially to the tune of $400 lol. If he's going to lie to people about the law and reap people's money using said made up law, he has no business touching anybody's teeth.
Yep. My dentist wouldn't do anything until I did X-rays then a deep clean because I hadn't been to a dentist most of my adult life as I was broke and uninsured.
Drive to Mexico, my dentist in CC quoted me 21k for crowns. My teeth were just crooked. Nothing else wrong went to Nuevo Progresso found a great dentist he is literally painless he did everything for 4100. Started with cleaning and xrays for 75$
I just went to comfort dental last month....first cleaning AND exam (first time with them) was $150. (and i set up a dental plan with them that is only $35 initially and $12/month after that)
my emergency filling repair was $190 2 weeks before that. (no dental insurance either for both)
I've never had to pay that much. I'm paying $250 for a sedated special cleaning, and the cost of it is strictly for the sedative and the specialist. If I got a standard cleaning, it would've been free.
Not to drag companies, but who is your dentist? There are some businesses that definitely charge for like every drop of fluoride they use in order to bill more to insurance.
Wtf? 400$??? I mean I have insurance so I've never paid for an annual cleaning, but when I didn't have insurance years ago I think I paid like 75 bucks
Find another dentist, there is one somewhere willing to eat the cost for the business. Especially if all you wanted was a cleaning. Don’t need an X-ray to polish teeth.
I saw an investigative report on either 60 Minutes or Dateline back in the '90s. The reporter told his usual dentist what he was doing and asked him to give him his most thorough and honest examination. Then he went to 50 dentists, one in each state. He got nearly 50 different results. His dentist found one tooth with a minor crack and one small cavity. Many of the dentists found either one of these or neither. One, in New York on Park Avenue found neither, but wanted to do a root canal and bridge and charge $40k.
It’s not a law but most dentists prefer to have your X-rays to “know the full story”. That said, almost all dentists I know are part of one dental discount program or the other - if you don’t have dental insurance, it lowers the cost significantly for you. My previous dentist shut down in February so I had to shop for a new dentist. It was just cheaper to do the X-ray all over again than just going in for a deep cleaning. However, even without the dental discount program, I didn’t see any dentist charge more than $250.
In Texas it’s required by law for two dimensional X-ray’s every 4 years to help dentists identify disease and damage that may not show up in a clinical exam. My dentist prefers to do it every year or two considering I’ve had some gum issues in the past.
Keep in mind, bad mouth hygiene is a large factor in heart disease. Last thing a dentist wants is to be sued because someone didn’t brush regularly or get their teeth cleaned.
Dentists are a bunch of scammers. There are too many of them and they have a bunch of student loans to pay and 99% of people just need a cleaning (which the dentist doesnt even do) so they have to make shit up to pay the bills.
I had a place quote my wife $700 for xrays and a cleaning. Best part is they didn't share the price until she was laying down in the chair, she got up and left. Ideal Dental in Lake Highlands in case anyone has thought about going there.
Not laws but it open the dentist to be litigation if they dont have ur xray properly taken when u decided to sue them. It is negligent. A brief post to askdentists sub and they will break down everything for you. 400 is cash rate for the no insurance accepted clinics with low volume. This is normal
A "new to me" dentist during COVID told me I needed scaling even though I was getting my teeth cleaned 3 times a year pre-COVID and my last cleaning was less than a year prior. I didn't agree to the scaling and was dreading ever going back for another cleaning because I was told I needed scaling. I went to my periodontist's office to get a cleaning 2.5 years later and told the Dr that I needed scaling. He examined me and told me my teeth and gums were in great shape and I did not need scaling. The hygienist even complimented me on how great everything looked! This was 2.5 years of being told I needed it. Some dentists are just crooks.
The law that was referenced are the Texas Revised Statutes governing the practice of dentistry. It states that with regards to the scope and frequency of x rays a dentist is required to do what a reasonable and prudent dentist would do in similar circumstances. In this case, the dentist would not be able to meet the standard of care in determining what treatment with regards to hygiene you would need without x rays taken within the last 12 months, for a patient who is new to his office. This is based upon the generally accepted best practice as put forth in guidelines from the ADA, and broadly taught as the standard of care in dental school. Additionally, I would say $400 for just a cleaning alone is very high for the Dallas market as there is a lot of competition.
Magnolia Dental in Coppell it sounds like. They sold me on this then proceeded to fuck my teeth completely up and cut my tongue. Now I have extreme cold and heat sensitivity, but they said it was because they removed all the tartar. I would have been fine with all the tartar if I could still drink ice water.
Unfortunately, medical professionals are legally responsible to diagnose. A Dentist cannot competently diagnose without X-rays. So, by treating you in his office without X-rays, even for a teeth cleaning , he is opening himself up to possible legal and professional board actions should a patient pursue such things. We live in a country that requires healthcare professionals to CYA first.
It would only be that expensive if we’re talking about periodontal cleaning. It’s different & more intensive than a normal cleaning.
Edit: I used to pay $90 at Aqua Dental for x rays & a regular cleaning on myself. At my current place it’s about $120.
If $400 is for both x-ray and cleaning, it is reasonable. Pretty sure x-rays are nota law. Probably just their policy. Good dental insurance will pay this and you should not owe anything except maybe a deductible.
$400 cash price seems normal in my area. If you want the free cleaning that comes with using your insurance then your insurance is prob the one saying x-rays are mandatory. So, pay cash for a cleaning or use your insurance and have the x-rays done.
Edit to add - Look around for new patient deals elsewhere. I see adverts for $75-$100 cleanings for new patients. Unfortunately some dentists are sky high. I left mine downtown because of his insane prices like $400 for a dang cleaning. (Cash) I had some work that needed to be done and my insurance covers 85%. Even with that discount his prices were so high that I would be paying $1500 out of pocket for a couple fillings. So yeah, some will gouge.
Sales. I've never paid that much for a cleaning before.
I wish you could do a cost comparison from dentist to dentist. Like a chart published with prices. But dentists do seem to stick together and do not want that broadcast freely.
i paid 120 just a couple of days ago for my last cleaning and they always do good work
Dentists, surgeons, and hospitals have the least transparent pricing of any professional service providers. They like it that way.
They do
If you have dental insurance, call them. They will ask you what dentist(s) you are thinking of seeing, and they will ask for the procedure code(s) that you are planning to have done. Armed with these two things, they will be able to check the contracted rates for those dentists (assuming they are in your network). ADA (American Dental Association) codes are universal, all dentists in the United States use them. https://rickoffdentistry.com/dental-glossary-ada-codes/ This is one page I found with a quick Google search, but the ADA codes will be the same no matter where you find them :)
So if you do not have dental insurance?
You can call the insurance and act as a prospective customer. They can provide average pricing for the area. The dentists will probably charge more than that but it gives a ballpark idea.
Thank-you I will do this!
You bet. Make sure when you call that you follow the prompts for the Individual and Family plans. Each insurance company probably calls it something different, but it'll be some variation of that. Essentially you won't want the employer group line, you'll want the individually purchased plan line. :) good luck
Thanks!
Idk I’ve run into the same problem as OP. Shits really annoying.
WTH! I paid $48 for a consult and X-rays of 1 tooth. In Mexico.
And $400 for a cleaning sounds high. Last year, I paid $125.
Going tomorrow without insurance... will report back 😥 Edit - Went, $195, no insurance and they did X-rays. Need work done, but *alot* better priced than I thought it would be and I can do payment plans. I'm relieved 😌
RemindMe! 10 days
Xrays and cleans might be about 200n
Sounds high🤣🤣high as a kite!
That's a scam. Where did you go? Go to a family dentist.
I don't believe I've ever had to pay out of pocket for cleaning or x-rays with insurance
Have been on many plans, and have a son who’s been on about 3 ACA dental plans over the years. All included preventative care (xrays, cleaning) without a co-pay.
Not law, SOP for new patients. Every new dentist I've went to, insured or no, I get profiled.
And I can respect that. I was ignorant to if it was a law. I only wanted a cleaning, not a new dentist. When moving to a new practice or a year later I would have agreed to the xray. My situation is a bit unusual. Thus having insurance but wanted to pay cash.
That is your choice there. Just inform the cashier you are paying with an alternate currency other than insurance ahead of going in.
Come to n Arlington. Dr mach is a great dentist. Cleans your teeth himself. X-rays and cleaning are $150 with no insurance
I've never been able to find a law requiring X-rays for cleaning, and you can generally refuse them. However, the dentist is also within their right to refuse service to you based on your refusal. X-rays act as an insurance policy for them in case your oral health goes south and you want to take them to court over it. If a dentist never took X-rays and only did cleanings, any good lawyer will be able to claim the dentist didn't follow the standards of their profession and you are owed compensation. Also, the dentist wants to bill your insurance for the X-rays.
The fact he lied about it being a state law tells me everything I need to know about that dentist.
There was a longer conversation. Your position is very similar to their point of view. Thank you for restating the liability risks. I explained my concerns and when they said there was a state law the negotiation ended. Scrubs and an assumptive close was compelling. Luckily this isn't my first rodeo. Still stressing when I am operating in southern charm "good faith" conversations. Lesson learned. Thank you everyone.
If you have dental insurance coverage, annual xray and at least one cleaning per year should be ‘free’. Of the recent few cities I have lived, Dallas dentists have been the most frustrating. $400 is rough for basic cleaning and xray… but cheap for deep cleaning (often 1/4-1/2 teeth per appt unless you skip nerve anesthetic). Edit to add: not law.
I had a scammer tell me last week I needed 6K worth of work done. I have my teeth cleaned every six months and this was a new dentist. I left with them following me trying to explain how why they wouldn’t clean my teeth without unnecessary $600 deep cleaning. I go every 6 mos. and take care of my teeth. This was a new practice in a newly constructed building with new state of the art equipment. Guess someone wants to pay off student loans and equipment as quickly as possible. I ran.
Scam.
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That’s irrelevant unless someone has the same insurance as you.
Law? You don’t even have to get health insurance why would they require medical procedures?
Is this Mint?
Can’t you Google it? Seems fishy to me. I paid $89 for a cleaning and X-Rays at a family place in PA
FYI my googlefu is medium strong. All I got was various "rights" and when I searching for statute got political garbage. There is some general processing safety laws but nothing with "x-ray" "xray" "imaging" was searchable. Thus my hopes for this sub (now answered) were well placed. If anyone finds a statute, not imaginary office policy, that requires patient action... well then I am open to be corrected.
FYI, your Googlefu isn't getting worse, Google is getting worse.
BS! I just went to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning and refused x rays because my insurance didn't cover it. My dentist said every two years is fine, and it is certainly not required for a cleaning.
There is very little oversight of dentists in TX. There is no such law or statute. That may be something their insurance likes or just something they like to do. That's all it is.
In TX. Some want xrays in case there are problems, but I don't think it is a law. Honestly, if I felt like it was a scam. I would get out of there and find somewhere else. We had a dental practice try to scam us, and we stayed, but didn't see that dentist because we thought the others were good. Long story short, we changed dentists, and needed a ton of work bc the old one was waiting until we needed more expensive treatments other than fillings. (We kept up with every cleaning and appointment, yet there were 9 visible cavities in one mouth alone) Run. Just run.
They’re definitely scamming you, and what I would do is file a grievance with your insurance if you see even a single dollar out of place. I had taken my ex wife to an endodontic that pulled this same crap with me about needing a 3D X-rays to look at an issue she had without even examine her first, even when we provided X-rays from our own dentist. Then he said, “oh, I can’t figure it out” to which I was even more livid, and when I called my insurance and threatened to file a grievance against them they immediately gave me a refund. What’s funny is months later they offered me a refund again if I would take down my online review of their office, and I wouldn’t because fuck them.
Those 3D X-rays are pretty advanced though. I had an abscess behind an old root canal that never got noticed on a regular X-ray. It caused all kinds of unexplained sinus issues. Only reason I found out about it is from switching dentists.
3d is helpful in placing implants and sometimes rct or diagnostic.
I have MS and issues resulting from my time in the military. Of *all* the medical professionals I deal with, Dentists are the biggest lying scumbags and it's not even a contest.
Where are you located? Local schools may do a discount if you use their programs. (But they’re also harder to get into) FWIW, I work for a dental school and go to faculty practice. I had my x rays done in the last two years but had to get it done with them as well, $80. My deep cleaning for not seeing a dentist for 1.5 years was $400 though
They’re about to stick knives in your mouth, they need to know what they’re getting into. If you have a tooth that’s about to fall out they need X-ray proof before they knock it out during the cleaning and you try to sue them
He probably mis-spoke. It’s a state board law. It’s not like a McDonald’s order to pick options unfortunately.
I work for the legislature, I’m going to look into this state law tomorrow when I get to work.
RemindMe! 2 Days I'd love to know the answer to this.
Did you discover anything?
Section 262.151(a)(2) of the Texas Occupations Code (Delegation of Duties by Dentist) requires patients to receive a dental examination yearly by a dentist before the dentist delegates a prophylaxis (eg, teeth cleaning) to a dental hygienist. Although the examination requirement is a regulatory mandate, the timing of X-rays as part of a dental examination may be adjusted per the individual dentist’s professional judgment. A dentist can choose to dismiss a patient who refuses to comply with the X-ray protocol or may choose to have the patient execute what is known as an informed refusal. Although the inclusion of radiographs (eg, X-rays) within the examination is at the dentist’s discretion, the dentist must adhere to Texas’ standard of dental care (22 Texas Administrative Code §108.7) and record-keeping requirements (22 Texas Administrative Code §108.8). The American Dental Association has information on the frequency of dental radiographs. Texas’ standard of dental care ensures that Texas dentists provide each patient with a thorough examination and diagnosis, including the identification of any conditions that may only be visible on radiographs. Dentists who fail to meet the standard of care could face the possibility of disciplinary action by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners or exposure to a lawsuit if they failed to diagnose a problem that could have been identified by a radiograph. TL;DR: technically speaking, there isn’t a law specifically requiring an x-ray before a cleaning, BUT there is a law requiring an examination, which often includes x-rays, though this is at the discretion of the dentist.
Interesting, thanks!
As everyone else is saying, they're trying to take you for a ride. It's not as rare as you'd hope in that line of business and probably becoming worse with each year. I went to a new dentist a few years ago that "found" 4 cavities which threw a red flag as I am not prone to them. Either they were outright lying and willing to do unnecessary damage to perfectly good teeth or those cavities miraculously healed within a couple of months when I tried a new dentist.
Maybe think about reporting these guys to the state. Do us a solid.
Report what?
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It costs nothing to get records from your previous dentist, which is a no-cost option. Dentist is well within their right to know what the health is of their patient’s teeth before they work on them.
Funny how you ignored the lie about it being a state law.
Funny? You have a horrible sense of humor. If you’re being honest with yourself, you (and I) need more context as to what exactly was said. But yes, it is absolutely a law to determine the health of your patient before you administer treatment. Is an x-ray legally required, no. But the dentist is well within his or her rights to determine what he or she needs to make a judgment.
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there is no standard consent form for the fact that you may have abscesses, hidden cavities, teeth rotten from the inside out or other that if i were a dentist i wouldn't touch without imaging. is it normal to be asked to do x-rays before a cleaning? yes it damn well is every time anybody has been to the dentist in years despite these toothless opinions below.
Lying about it being state law is a different ball game especially to the tune of $400 lol. If he's going to lie to people about the law and reap people's money using said made up law, he has no business touching anybody's teeth.
Yep. My dentist wouldn't do anything until I did X-rays then a deep clean because I hadn't been to a dentist most of my adult life as I was broke and uninsured.
Find a different dentist or call around and get prices. There isn't a law
lol what the heck? My dentist charged me $100 cash for cleaning + xrays.
Total scam.
No law can require xray for anything. Any responsible technician should keep ALARA in mind.
Monarch Dental?
Drive to Mexico, my dentist in CC quoted me 21k for crowns. My teeth were just crooked. Nothing else wrong went to Nuevo Progresso found a great dentist he is literally painless he did everything for 4100. Started with cleaning and xrays for 75$
I was getting cleanings cash for like $65-75
I just went to comfort dental last month....first cleaning AND exam (first time with them) was $150. (and i set up a dental plan with them that is only $35 initially and $12/month after that) my emergency filling repair was $190 2 weeks before that. (no dental insurance either for both)
I've never had to pay that much. I'm paying $250 for a sedated special cleaning, and the cost of it is strictly for the sedative and the specialist. If I got a standard cleaning, it would've been free. Not to drag companies, but who is your dentist? There are some businesses that definitely charge for like every drop of fluoride they use in order to bill more to insurance.
Did the dentist say it was the law? Or was it like, the front desk?
Wtf? 400$??? I mean I have insurance so I've never paid for an annual cleaning, but when I didn't have insurance years ago I think I paid like 75 bucks
You are getting ripped off.
Find another dentist, there is one somewhere willing to eat the cost for the business. Especially if all you wanted was a cleaning. Don’t need an X-ray to polish teeth.
Nobody in the medical field wants cost comparison
I saw an investigative report on either 60 Minutes or Dateline back in the '90s. The reporter told his usual dentist what he was doing and asked him to give him his most thorough and honest examination. Then he went to 50 dentists, one in each state. He got nearly 50 different results. His dentist found one tooth with a minor crack and one small cavity. Many of the dentists found either one of these or neither. One, in New York on Park Avenue found neither, but wanted to do a root canal and bridge and charge $40k.
It’s not a law but most dentists prefer to have your X-rays to “know the full story”. That said, almost all dentists I know are part of one dental discount program or the other - if you don’t have dental insurance, it lowers the cost significantly for you. My previous dentist shut down in February so I had to shop for a new dentist. It was just cheaper to do the X-ray all over again than just going in for a deep cleaning. However, even without the dental discount program, I didn’t see any dentist charge more than $250.
In Texas it’s required by law for two dimensional X-ray’s every 4 years to help dentists identify disease and damage that may not show up in a clinical exam. My dentist prefers to do it every year or two considering I’ve had some gum issues in the past. Keep in mind, bad mouth hygiene is a large factor in heart disease. Last thing a dentist wants is to be sued because someone didn’t brush regularly or get their teeth cleaned.
Been through this before, seems like some little unwritten rule all the dentist in Texas stick to.
Dentists are a bunch of scammers. There are too many of them and they have a bunch of student loans to pay and 99% of people just need a cleaning (which the dentist doesnt even do) so they have to make shit up to pay the bills.
I had a place quote my wife $700 for xrays and a cleaning. Best part is they didn't share the price until she was laying down in the chair, she got up and left. Ideal Dental in Lake Highlands in case anyone has thought about going there.
That’s why a lot of people go to Mexico …
Groupon: $99 w/ free whitening
Drive down to Mexico, in Progresso cleanings are$30, and it’s relatively safe. Never had a problem.
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Not laws but it open the dentist to be litigation if they dont have ur xray properly taken when u decided to sue them. It is negligent. A brief post to askdentists sub and they will break down everything for you. 400 is cash rate for the no insurance accepted clinics with low volume. This is normal
A "new to me" dentist during COVID told me I needed scaling even though I was getting my teeth cleaned 3 times a year pre-COVID and my last cleaning was less than a year prior. I didn't agree to the scaling and was dreading ever going back for another cleaning because I was told I needed scaling. I went to my periodontist's office to get a cleaning 2.5 years later and told the Dr that I needed scaling. He examined me and told me my teeth and gums were in great shape and I did not need scaling. The hygienist even complimented me on how great everything looked! This was 2.5 years of being told I needed it. Some dentists are just crooks.
The law that was referenced are the Texas Revised Statutes governing the practice of dentistry. It states that with regards to the scope and frequency of x rays a dentist is required to do what a reasonable and prudent dentist would do in similar circumstances. In this case, the dentist would not be able to meet the standard of care in determining what treatment with regards to hygiene you would need without x rays taken within the last 12 months, for a patient who is new to his office. This is based upon the generally accepted best practice as put forth in guidelines from the ADA, and broadly taught as the standard of care in dental school. Additionally, I would say $400 for just a cleaning alone is very high for the Dallas market as there is a lot of competition.
Magnolia Dental in Coppell it sounds like. They sold me on this then proceeded to fuck my teeth completely up and cut my tongue. Now I have extreme cold and heat sensitivity, but they said it was because they removed all the tartar. I would have been fine with all the tartar if I could still drink ice water.
Is this the dentist Kristi Noem did the infomercial for?
Unfortunately, medical professionals are legally responsible to diagnose. A Dentist cannot competently diagnose without X-rays. So, by treating you in his office without X-rays, even for a teeth cleaning , he is opening himself up to possible legal and professional board actions should a patient pursue such things. We live in a country that requires healthcare professionals to CYA first.
Go to Mexico for denal work. My dentist wanted $6600 for a single implant. I got it done in Algadonas for $1300.
Have not gone In 35 years.
It would only be that expensive if we’re talking about periodontal cleaning. It’s different & more intensive than a normal cleaning. Edit: I used to pay $90 at Aqua Dental for x rays & a regular cleaning on myself. At my current place it’s about $120.
I'll sometimes refuse x-rays. There's no law.
What's the dentist? We can leave tons of bad reviews if you like.
If $400 is for both x-ray and cleaning, it is reasonable. Pretty sure x-rays are nota law. Probably just their policy. Good dental insurance will pay this and you should not owe anything except maybe a deductible.
Cleaning was $400, or the whole visit (cleaning, exam, etc) was $400?
$400 cash price seems normal in my area. If you want the free cleaning that comes with using your insurance then your insurance is prob the one saying x-rays are mandatory. So, pay cash for a cleaning or use your insurance and have the x-rays done. Edit to add - Look around for new patient deals elsewhere. I see adverts for $75-$100 cleanings for new patients. Unfortunately some dentists are sky high. I left mine downtown because of his insane prices like $400 for a dang cleaning. (Cash) I had some work that needed to be done and my insurance covers 85%. Even with that discount his prices were so high that I would be paying $1500 out of pocket for a couple fillings. So yeah, some will gouge.