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Archives for March 2020

Can’t Afford the Work My Children Need

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I took my son to the dentist for the first time a few weeks ago. I hadn’t previously because we didn’t have dental insurance. Now we do. Cleanings and x-rays are covered. Unfortunately, the pediatric dentist is telling us he needs six cavities filled. The price to have that done was unbelievable! I asked if we could have the work done and pay it off incrementally and they said that all work had to be paid for up front. I don’t have that kind of money. What do you recommend?

Olivia

Dear Olivia,

Boy smiling holding toothbrush

I’m sorry to hear your pediatric dentist isn’t willing to work with you. That makes it tough. It’s expensive enough raising children. One thing I would do first, is get the x-rays and bring them to a pediatric dentist who offers free second opinions. Maybe some of
those cavities can just be watched and if your son notches up his oral health care a bit the teeth will remineralize. That could save you money by just having the urgent ones dealt with.

This is called staged treatment and something most dentists should offer. As yours doesn’t, you can do a search using the term affordable dentist. They’re usually more willing to work with patients on things like this. However, don’t confuse affordable dental care with cheap dental care. You want someone who is willing to work with you on treatments and payments who still provides quality care— not someone who cuts corners to draw in patients with their low prices.

Another option is to go through Care Credit. This is a medical loan service. They’ll pay for your medical or dental care and then you make payments to them. Depending on your credit, you can get low or even no interest payment plans.

Start there. If you’re still having trouble after that, write me back and we’ll see if there isn’t some other way to get your son the care he needs. What you don’t want to do is let it turn into a tooth infection. So, get the most urgent cavities dealt with first.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Raymond Bolt.

She Needs to Get a Second Opinion

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I am not having great confidence in this new dentist I saw. I was having tooth pain. I’m new to the area and had to see a discount clinic. I’ve heard they see people quicker. I think I know why. First, it was more like a cattle station than a medical clinic. Second, I’m not sure how much I trust them. Here’s the deal. When he examined my tooth, he did an x-ray and determined a tooth which already had a filling had an infection. He told me only about 10% of the tooth was healthy. Once he got in there, he’d probably need to extract the tooth and then we’d work out a dental implant procedure. Something doesn’t sit right with me about this. I scheduled the follow-up appointment, but I think I need to get a second opinion first. Am I overreacting?

Elaine

Dear Elaine,

Woman in pain in need of dental care

Dental Infections are Serious

The first thing I want you to do is call the dentist you saw and ask him to prescribe an antibiotic for you. Dental infections are serious and you don’t want it to spread while you get your second opinion. And, yes, I definitely think you need a second opinion.

If the tooth were as far gone as he indicated, you would have been in pain for a while. You didn’t seem to indicate that. Secondly, a tooth in the condition he described would not require an x-ray to see the decay and infection. In fact, the filling would have fallen out by now. Something hinky is going on here.

Don’t put off the second opinion, though. I mentioned earlier that dental infections are serious. While the antibiotic will hold it at bay temporarily, it won’t get rid of it. That is typically done with a root canal treatment.

A Word about Getting a Second Opinion

You want to make sure, when getting a second opinion that it is a blind opinion. Don’t tell them who the dentist was or what their diagnosis was. Let them examine you and give their unbiased opinion first. After that, feel free to tell them what the current doc said.

If what your first dentist said was true, which I doubt, his suggestion about replacing the tooth with a dental implant was solid. It is the best tooth replacement option out there. Though, I suspect you are not going to have to worry about that.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn Family Dentist Dr. Raymond Bolt.

Our office follows all of the infection-control guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the dental setting, including updates for combatting the spread of the coronavirus. We are confident that you are safe with us.