Is this legal? (Dentist related)

[tlloveshim]

My children have been on Medicaid before when dh was out of work and they would get more than one cavity filled at a time and my oldest had 4 teeth pulled at once before getting braces. We never had appts. spread out like that on Medicaid unless the dentist determined it was necessary for my children's health but not because of the insurance. It may be the way that particular office deals with Medicaid patients though.

[Vegas Long Legs]

Why don't you call medicaid & ask? Did the OP see the thread in the money section on medicare fraud?

[LoveGame]

^ I didn't see that thread but I will check it out.

[domlee]

I think what you're describing, is due to what is covered during "X" time period per year (by your dental plan coverage).

Now, I will say that one of my past dentists...had SLOPPY accounting. He was late filing his documents to my dental plan provider. The dental plan provider allows them a certain amount of time to file their paperwork (I believe it is 6 months). Well, to make a long story short, my now-former dentist called me and proceeded to LIE to me (to cover up his f*ckup), telling me that I'm no longer covered by my dental plan. I called the dental plan provider and they looked into it, and it was actually due to his late paperwork, therefore they denied his filing. Which he subsequently was pissed and lied to me in order to get me to cover his ass. I told him exactly what they said, but he refused to acknowledge it and still claimed that it was because I wasn't covered (and continued to call me about this bull$hit for a few months). Ultimately he was paid because I called the provider asking them to kindly pay him so that he would get off my a$$. It was this bull$hit (lack of honesty and integrity) coupled w/ his seemingly frequent rescheduling of my confirmed appointments that I refused to do business w/ him. My entire family stopped doing business w/ him as well.

But I think your situation is far different from mine.

[ShimmaPuff]

The thing that bothers me the most is their reluctance to talk to you about it.

Whether it is for insurance reasons, some wacky accounting thing peculiar to him and his wacky accountant, or his medical opinion specific to you and your mouth, he should be happy to explain it all to you and answer any questions and allay any concerns you have.

If he prefers not to do that, I would shop around for one with a different view about shaman-patient communication.

[Compass Rose]

I used to work for a dentist, and he loved to do one quadrant at a time....that being the upper half or lower half of your mouth in one sitting. Maybe things have changed, but it seems like a logical thing to do for efficiency, but maybe your doctor wants to charge you for each visit. Tell him that you want to do as much as possible in one sitting. See what he says.

[lorihmatthews]

Originally Posted by Compass Rose

Maybe things have changed, but it seems like a logical thing to do for efficiency, but maybe your doctor wants to charge you for each visit. Tell him that you want to do as much as possible in one sitting. See what he says.

This is what I was thinking. Is the dentist charging you a copay each time you visit?

[Junkenpo]

hmmm... i gotta say I've been going to the same dentist for nearly 2/3 of my life. He will do multiple fillings (and I blush to admit that I've needed multiple fillings) in one sitting, but will do the cleaning and fillings in separate appointments. I've never questioned the why of it... mostly glad to get out of the chair.

Maybe your mouth doc spaces them out so folks don't get too nervous or antsy being in the chair?

I went to a different doc for my wisdom teeth... and he knocked me out with that special gas and took out all 4 at once. I'm so glad I didn't have to go for separate appointments for that!

My next cleaning is in January.

good luck with getting more stuff done at once or at least getting your doc to explain what's up... do you have a handbook from your insurance peeps explaining what your coverage is?

[ilovepinkhearts]

she has medicaid, so she wont be charged but the state she lives in will...so im thinking that if they space out all the appointments they are making more money. they will be able to charge the state for multiple appointments and not just one...just my thoughts..

[mdmc]

Originally Posted by ilovepinkhearts

she has medicaid, so she wont be charged but the state she lives in will...so im thinking that if they space out all the appointments they are making more money. they will be able to charge the state for multiple appointments and not just one...just my thoughts..

I agree with you completely. The government (medicaid in this case) does not pay much. Maybe the dentist is spacing these visits out to collest more money. I think the wisdom teeth thing is outrageous though. When I had my wisdom teeth out they put me to sleep, and do so with most people I know. So this dentist is saying they can only pull one tooth at a time which means they put you to sleep 4 times? I think I would look for a different dentist

[rainrowan]

If it's Medicaid, I'm sure that has something to do with it. My son is allowed a certain amount of diapers a year, and only from one provider and the diaper deliveries are spaced out during the year. I once unknowingly had diapers delivered from two different agencies (to try out the diapers), and Medicaid immediately became aware of the situation and put a stop on the second agency's delivery. We were only allowed a certain number, or a certain cost per month (delivery). So, there's a definite checks and balances going on.

Having said that, you should contact your Medicaid service coordinator for the answers tho. The dentist might also have his own reasons for scheduling these spaced visits on top of that... our own dentist schedules us twice a year which is a lot for me, but my dh is a bit obsessive w teeth health. We may have a terminal disease but our teeth look good LOL

[starlux]

I've worked in many dental offices and in the dental field for a long time and YES, it is completely legal. Medicaid does dictate what they can do when, and if the dentist has a very busy schedule, he might only be able to fit you in at certain times. As for the wisdom teeth, that's a tad unusual, but again, Medicaid is a huge part of this. And quite honestly, medicaid is a huge pain in the arse for an office to deal with, believe me.

It's not shady at all and it's not illegal. End of story.

[awhitney]

I work in the dental field and it seems totally weird that you would have to wait a month between appointments! usually dentists like to do 1 quadrant at a time (only one area of the mouth is frozen), but if you have 2 fillings to do side by side usually they would do them both, depending on how much time there is, and how deep the prep is. The wisdom teeth thing is weird too! you get sent to an oral surgeon for a reason! because its more comfortable for the patient to be sedated during the procedure.. it usually takes about 15 minutes max to extract 4 wisdom teeth. The oral sedation in itself is expensive, and to be going 3 different times, is not just traumatic, but super expensive! Waiting 4 months to see an Oral Surgeon is completely normal.

[wackynottacky]

I'm not in the dental field. So feel free to dismiss my advice. But IMO it's best to find out why they're doing this so call the dentist office and medicaid and ask lots of questions and find out what's going on. If your dentist asks you not to call medicaid then look for a different dentist if you can!

[Toothfairy4]

I'm a Dental Hygienist/Therapist but I work in the UK so not sure how much help my advice will be? Few questions

1. Are they spacing the fillings a month apart because they have no appointments until then or just teling you they have to be a month apart?
2. Are you getting put to sleep to have your wisdom teeth removed surgically or are they straightforward extractions done in the dentists surgery by your dentist with just some local anaesthetic?