It is bad enough that medical costs have gotten out of control, but now it seems that dental costs are following suit. Unfortunately, there is no insurance you can buy that really protects you in the same way that medical insurance does. So, for example, if you want a specialist to give you an implant you can be looking easily at $5,000 for ONE tooth! Since you have 32 teeth in your mouth, I would like to know how people are supposed to pay for a mouth full of implants...or even half a mouth full, if they become necessary. Dentists and their staffers act like this is no big deal, but it is a real big deal for people who need serious dental care. What think you? What can we do? Anybody?
I wrote an article about this a couple of years ago. The gist is..start oil pulling and you'll never need another dentist again! If you want the article let me know.
lol I hear you.. In the dentist office and they're setting up future appointments for stuff that's going to cost a fortune like it's nothing at all. I must have been in the Rich and famous people's dentist office since they automatically assumed I could pull 5 grand out of my ass!
Delta Dental is an insurance company used by a lot of employers who offer dental coverage (my old workplace and my husband's both give coverage through Delta) but they also sell individual plans in select US states. I don't know where you live, but it might be worth checking out.
calculus-geometry:
I am aware of Delta Dental, but my problems with them are two fold:
first, they are prohibitively expensive and
second, you have to be with them for at least a year before they will pay for anything major.
Most people cannot afford such limited coverage, even though in the long run it may pay off...or not!
My husband & I are self-employed & have zero benefits. We've always have to pay the dentist out of pocket. We even paid the orthodontist (in full) for our braces. This has been great incentive to both brush & floss everyday & eat nutritiously & thereby maintain healthy teeth. The best insurance is prevention through taking care of yourself. If you haven't done this, or have had an accident, then unfortunately, unless you have benefits through employment, you have to pay - even in Canada. We have a friend in our building who had all her teeth pulled & has worn dentures for years. Apparently, it was the least expensive way to go.
Sylvia Leong:
I have always had terrible teeth due to a childhood illness, but at the same time have always done everything possible to care for them.
I feel that the prices dentists charge are outrageous.
Yes, they have their schooling, equipment, employee costs and overhead to pay for, but so does every other person who is in business.
I once had a friend who was a dentist. He told me how little he had to pay for lab work, etc., and laughed about how he was able to gouge patients for those same costs.
From what I can tell, there is absolutely zero regulation with regards to costs, especially since there is very little real and reasonably priced dental insurance available to people.
I think people need to start contacting their state and federal politicians to see what can be done about this.
Dental work is a necessity, and one that should be available to every human being at a reasonable cost.
I just recently read an article that stated that dentists now make more money than most doctors!
What's wrong with this picture???
I could relate a personal dentist story that would have the reader kicking in the nearest wall. But I don't feel like going through that memory again right now, so will save it for another time.
I don't have dental insurance. My last root canal cost about $3000. My dentist let me pay it off in multiple payments. I have no trouble at all believing that was the real cost of the procedure with not more than a fair profit margin. I have some idea what specialist equipment, pharmaceuticals, commercial rent etc cost and I know that his simple extractions are the cheapest in town. But I chose to invest in keeping the tooth--which I was fortunately able to do as he spread the payments across my next several paydays,.
psycheskinner:
Really? Why are dentists paying more than everybody else, and what makes you think that large profit margins are OK.
$3,000 for a root canal is a high price for a job that can be done in less than an hour and by a doctor who has a waiting room full of patients.
Other than doctors, lawyers and politicians, I know of no other career that allows people to have a license to charge whatever they like and expect people either to suffer or go broke paying.
It's pretty obvious by the posts written here so far that people are not happy with the cost of dental care.
You could have paid half of what you had to pay and your dentist could still have made a profit.
My root canal took three visits and several hours using millions of dollars worth of equipment, a custom made crown, and the services of a man who went $250000 dollars into debt to get his education. He drives an old car, wears old shoes, and does $50 extractions for people on low incomes. So no, I do not think he could have charged me half and been in profit at all.
I do not begrudge him a lower middle class income for his skilled services. In fact is his net income after honoring his debts is almost certainly lower than mine. So I have no basis to begrudge him his fee whatsoever.
My dentist offered three levels of treatment in a straightforward way with no implied judgement. I went for the most expensive and he worked with me to pay for it. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and trust in his ethics and skills. This despite it being the single most expensive thing I have ever bought. Not even my car was that expensive.
psycheskinner:
Well, my dentist is an outstanding and highly trained Endodontist with a very successful practice and many employees.
He, too, paid a fortune for his education and has expensive equipment, staffers and all the overhead any dentist has.
Someone paying cash for a root canal in his office pays $1200.
With insurance, it costs less than half of that.
He is a great guy I have used for years, and is not one I would ever complain about, just as you would not complain about yours.
The only difference is that your guy is charging more than twice what my guy charges!
For a complex procedure due to my other medical conditions, in an area with high commercial leasing rates--not all root canals are the same.
"After all, what's a few thousand to them!"
A lot, I suspect. How exactly do you expect them to act?
psychskinner:
Well, showing a little compassion for the plight of the patients would be nice. They don't have to act like people are paupers when the baulk at the exorbitant prices their bosses are charging!
Timetraveler2- I understand you totally. If there is a health issue that needs a light shined on it than Dental care.
We all work our whole lives with whatever dental coverage our employer provides and then we retire. And WHAM! You are OLD and your teeth are going (pardon the phrase) to Hell.
SO you go to a dentist (another word for an unregulated medical service technician) and he checks your teeth and gives you a quote that has no constraints other that what he nd his peers have set up.as acceptable.
And, you either pay, or if you have good credit, he hands you a form for a special credit card. You see he gets paid, and your teeth are not his problem.
If you have money, or credit, you get your teeth fixed. If not, you suffer and your teeth degrade even further. Not his problem.
With any other physical illness you can get help regardless of the problem and your financial situation. Not with dental work.
In fact, I was in the emergency room a month ago wth a blood clot and what did I see? three different people who were in the emergency room with extreme pain in their teeth. You see, this will get treated with a drug, at least.
We need Dental managed by Medicare like the rest of our physical problems.
Sorry about the Rant! DON
Well put, Don. This has been an expense that has been abused forever. No mercy at the dentists office!
robhampton:
Don't you just love the way the clerks in those offices toss those figures around like they are nothing? After all, what's a few thousand to them!
The clerks in those offices earn little more than minimum wage. Why are you assuming they are wealthy?
We should have socialized medicine or effective dental insurance. But the absence of these things is not the fault of evil dentists or their millionaire secretaries.
psycheskinner:
What in the world made you think I said that office clerks are wealthy?
You misunderstood my statement.
What I said was they "toss those figures around like they are nothing"...meaning that they are telling YOU prices that would scare the skin off a rabbit but acting like those costs are no big deal.
It would be a real BIG deal if they were the ones who were getting skinned!
Don:
Don't be sorry...you are expressing my feelings exactly...and probably those of many others as well!
I am sitting in the library, gauze in the back of my mouth to stop the bleeding. I just had my back tooth pulled. In 2011, I broke a tooth before I flew to my brother's wedding. 'No biggie, I will have it taken care of as soon as I return.' It was during the recession, and I came back to find that my husband's work was downsizing drastically, starting at the top... and he was out of a job. After 3 years, I finally have dental again (though not medical, of course... let's not get crazy!) And with the ins. it cost me $125 to have him rip a tooth from my jaw. And I still have it better than the majority of the world. It sounds like Im complaining, probably b/c I was just assaulted by a man in a white coat, but I am actually very grateful.
by SmilesDoc 10 years ago
Is dental care too expensive?As a dentist, the big moment of truth comes when my patient walks up front and pulls out their wallet or purse to pay for treatment. How do they feel at that moment? Do they proceed to pay gladly or grudgingly?A question for you... are dentists giving you fair value or...
by mom101 13 years ago
Is there such a thing as a dental insurance plan that reimburses me after I have gone to the dentist?I have dental insurance, but, it will not cover any preexisting conditions. I am about to undergo some major restorative work and the dentist I will be using does not accept any insurance. Either...
by Janellegems 10 years ago
What is the best company to get dental insurance in the United states?I need to get dental insurance because my gum needs to be treated and I also need two crowns. Can you recommend the best company to get dental insurance from?
by Rosemary Amrhein 14 years ago
I was reading another thread about Frogdropping had gone to the dentist and it's too old to respond.The worst thing for me was when I needed oral surgery to remove a tooth which was broken below the gums.anyways the whole procedure took only 15 mins, the bad bad part was them telling me "you...
by ScarletRyan1970 10 years ago
Hello, Every time i meet an American person they all have got such great teeth. What is your secret? I used to be a Dental Nurse both in Australia and here in Ireland. And i can tell you i have seen ...
by Earl S. Wynn 14 years ago
As a US citizen, is it better to get dental work done here or get it cheaper overseas?Are there risks involved with getting it done overseas?
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |