We took our son to Dentistry for Children & Adolescents. They told us our son would have to be put down to cap his tooth and fix a cavity. Ok fine no big deal. They sent us an estimate of 1600.00 before anesthesia which is about 3500.00. We called today to set up an appointment because our son seems to be more bothered by his teeth. They said we needed to put at least half of the 1600 down a week before the appointment. We can not afford all of that up front. My question is, has anybody else had to do this procedure on their kids and were they allowed to do a payment plan? Where did you go if so? Thank you for your help!
If you live near a dental school, you may be able to save a lot of money-- suggestion: contact the University of MN Dental School.
I also take my kids to riverdale pediatric dentistry in coon rapids. They are great. My son has had a lot of work done there over the past 2 years.
P.
B., when my daughter was 2 years old she needed some dental work which required her being placed under general anesthesia. I recall we needed to put that same amount of money down prior to the surgery. I do not remember anyone mentioning a payment plan, but I would check with the hospital's business office if I were you. I don't think it would be the first time they were asked about a payment plan. Everything medical costs so much darn money, it's maddening. Grrr!!
Good luck with the procedure(s). I hope you are not having general anesthesia being done in a dentist's office, but rather in a hospital setting because it is much safer (even though it is more money). Please write me a message if you are considering having it done in the dentist's office so I can tell you about our daughter's experience, and why we were so very glad it was done in the hospital.
B., you have received some good advice here. Here is what I would do..... If you have dental have the dentist submit a pre approval, the insurance will process it to let you know what your expected out of pocket will be. I would also contact your health insurance. A lot of times for dental procedures on children under a certain age the bill for the anesthesia can be filed there and you may also want to look at the Care Card for the left over, but if you can provide the dental office language showing what your plan is willing to cover, they may decrease that amount. I work in healthcare and I know they are willing to negotiate. Hope this helps.
There is a medical credit card called Care Credit. We had to use it when my husband had cyst removed from his mouth and they wanted the money up front. Just go to www.carecredit.com and you can search to see if this office participates and also you can get approved online. Hope this helps.
B.,
I have no experience with payment plans at any dentist, but here's link for free/reduced cost dental care in MN:
http://www.cdf-mn.org/HealthCare/dental.htm
I would really question the need to cap and fill a baby tooth. Why not just pull it? Spending thousands of dollars on a tooth or two that will be falling out in a couple of years anyway seems pointless. The argument I've heard *for* fixing baby teeth is that they are "placeholders", and you could encounter problems later on when adult teeth come in. I haven't done my own research, but like I said, I'd really question the need for this--at least get a second opinion.
My dentist in a St. Paul suburb has a dental credit card. It's not an like any other credit card because it can ONLY be used for dental care, that's it. The monthly rate is unbelieveably cheap. Maybe there is a dentist in your area that has this Dental only card.
My son is also 3 and he had to have 6 crowns done. We go to Riverdale Pediactric dentist in Coon Rapids. And we can do a 6 month payment plan or try and get a Capital One credit card and there were a couple other payment arrangements we could do. We didn't have to pay anything up front. They take them to Childrens Hospital west to do the procedure and the dentist office people are very nice. Their info is here if you wanna try with them
www.cavitypatrol.com - ###-###-####
Our 3 year old had to have several cavities filled and 4 teath capped. I also questioned why since these teeth will fall out anyway. The dentist said that since he was only 3 he would have most of the capped teeth (molars) for 5 or 6 more years and not fixing them would do damage to the next set of teeth. Our son had to go to the hospital and be under completely for over an hour. We had to pay what our dental insurance didn't cover up front. We ended up getting credit from Care Credit. Basically we pay no interest for 18 months as long as we make the minimum monthly payments. It helped. We also were able to have the hospital charges covered under our regular medical insurance because it was considered Major Medical and our dentist had to write a letter claiming medical necessity. Our son it turns out has a strain of bacteria in his mouth that is still there and we now have use special toothpaste and bacteria rinse every day with him. This is to prevent any more damage to his teeth. We don't regret our decision to have the work done. Good luck.
You can't pull his front tooth at the age of 3 so it's going to have to be fixed. Get a second or third opinion.
We use Metropolitan Pediatric Dental in Eagan give them a try.
Try the Smile Center
Good morning, B.! My name is H. & I am a dental sales rep. for Dental Plans. I sell afordable dental plans & would like to help you get the care you need for your son. You can save up to 60% on detal care needs & we have plans available all throughout the USA. I would like for you to give me a call so we can go over the plans that are available to you & see what dental providers are available in your area. I help many people every day get the dental care they need & can afford. Please call me when you get a chance & I'll give you a FREE quote. Have a great day & I look forward to hearing from you.
H.
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Which location do you go to? We go to them, too, in Mtka, and have always been able to do payment plans after the fact.
S.
call dr cade hunzeker see what he can do he offers payment plans ###-###-####
I know it is a bit of a drive, but this place is wonderful with children: http://www.metropediatricdental.com/
I took my children there for a few years until we moved, and I found them to be kind, compassionate, knowledgable, and priced fairly. I also appreciated the fact that they didn't rush to sedate my kids for every procedure. When I brought my 3 youngest home from Russia, their teeth were ROTTEN. And by rotten, I mean pus and blood leaking through the teeth! Of course, all three had extensive dental work at Metro Ped Dental - caps, crowns, extractions, fillings, etc., and no sedation was ever needed/warranted.
Sedation is not only the most expensive part of a dental procedure, it is also the most risky. I would seek alternatives to sedation if at all possible (which it may not be - depending on your child as well as the work being done).
Good luck :)
Do you have dental insurance. If so do a preapproval through them. That should help with the cost. The dental office will usually do half the cost minus the expeced isurance contribution. Also if you explain that you can't afford all that at once they may work with you.
He will be loosing that front tooth in a few years. Is it worth the cost? Most children lose their front teeth at the age of 5 or 6. I would get another opinion of capping it from another dentist outside that clinic. Many don't believe in capping baby teeth.
I would get a second opionion as that is a lot to spend for a tooth that he will loose in a couple of years. Also, not sure of your income, but there may be some alternatives for dental care for your kids. Some of the colleges that have dental programs: U of M, Century College etc...have a day where they give free/reduced dental care. You could call them directly to see if they have info. I also found this link on the web about give a kid a smile day...a little dated, but I think can give you some good info if you do a little research. http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/ada/31171/
