Is this legal? (Dentist related)

[Toothfairy4]

Originally Posted by 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.

Hadn't read the whole thread before I posted, I agree with all awhitney said!

[LOREBUNDE]

I know my dentist spreads appts. out too. If I go in for cleaning and he finds cavities I have to make another appt. Last time my DH was like "why didn't he jsut fill why you were there?" but it would of taken too long and there were other people waiting. For fillings I had to make a special appt. Also could be insurance thing.

[wackynottacky]

Originally Posted by LOREBUNDE

I know my dentist spreads appts. out too. If I go in for cleaning and he finds cavities I have to make another appt. Last time my DH was like "why didn't he jsut fill why you were there?" but it would of taken too long and there were other people waiting. For fillings I had to make a special appt. Also could be insurance thing.

Yup - when a dentist schedules an appointment for cleaning/checkup, they usually don't also add time on for fillings. So unless they have a cancellation that day, you have to get it filled on another day. At least that's what my dentist has explained me. I'm not in the dental field.

But having to get one filling at a time, and one wisdom tooth at a time, just sounds a bit fishy, if it is not because of Medicaid, so I still recommend asking your dentist's office why this needs to be done, and then call Medicaid and ask them if what the dentist is doing is normal.

If the dentist asks you not to bring this up with Medicaid, then find a new dentist if possible.

All my dentists (I've some experiences) would do all the fillings in one day. When I got my wisdom teeth out the dental surgeon recommended getting them out all four at a time, because it cuts down on risk from anesthetic and so that only one course of antibiotics will be needed. He said that if that wasn't possible, at least two should be taken out so only two surgeries are needed. I'd def. get a second opinion on the wisdom teeth. Find out what an actual dental surgeon in your area has to say.

I'm not in the dental field. These are just my opinions and experiences. And my biggest and best advice: ask questions until you get an answer that not only makes sense but also that you are comfortable with.

[LOREBUNDE]

I do agree it does sound strange. I could see if two on the same side of mouth, they could be done together.

[mirdc]

It sounds strange. Most dentists try to get as much done in a visit as possible and if you see a dentist that is stretching things out, it is often so they can bill for additional office visits (so it is a make work project for them).

Now, the only thing that complicates things is the medicaid issue. I don't know the rules the dentists operate under, but for my profession, medicaid is bizarrely prohibitive. I would talk to your dentist and if you don't get satisfactory answers --- then shop for another dentist.

[Divyaangana]

I think the big reason that your dentist is spacing everything is Medicaid. A lot of Medicaid procedures all require pre-authorizations before they can be done which takes time to obtain. In addition, if you are having these procedures done towards the end of the year, Medicaid is most likely putting a hold on them all being done at the same time because they actually don't have the funds to pay your provider for his service.

I work in the medical field currently and all I do everyday is deal with insurance. In my state between the months of November and January, all insurance payments slow down tremendously with state funded being hit the hardest. Most states have simply run out of the funds they had set aside. This is the time that they spend lobbing for more money, replenishing their funds, etc.

Unfortunately I think that if you even if you find another dentist whom accepts Medicaid and agrees to see you that you will end up running into many of the same issues.

[starlux]

Originally Posted by Divyaangana

I think the big reason that your dentist is spacing everything is Medicaid. A lot of Medicaid procedures all require pre-authorizations before they can be done which takes time to obtain. In addition, if you are having these procedures done towards the end of the year, Medicaid is most likely putting a hold on them all being done at the same time because they actually don't have the funds to pay your provider for his service. I work in the medical field currently and all I do everyday is deal with insurance. In my state between the months of November and January, all insurance payments slow down tremendously with state funded being hit the hardest. Most states have simply run out of the funds they had set aside. This is the time that they spend lobbing for more money, replenishing their funds, etc. Unfortunately I think that if you even if you find another dentist whom accepts Medicaid and agrees to see you that you will end up running into many of the same issues.

Yup, this, this, this, this and THIS. :) If it weren't for the medicaid aspect, I'd totally be with the rest of the posters on here. But that really what it is, it's not the dentist being shady. Medicaid is a biotch to deal with for the office and it really has it's own set of rules and regs totally different from a regular dental insurance.

[kells1983]

I won't speak to the other issues raised, but I DO know that if you're talking about the lower teeth, most dentists won't do both sides at the same time... this is due to safety concerns. When they numb your lower jaw, your tongue gets numb, and if they do both sides at once you run the risk of chewing through your tongue. So at least that's one thing that may explain it...

Also, wisdom teeth removal is a PAIN. I had all 4 (which were impacted) removed at once by an oral surgeon, and I almost wish I had gotten 2 at a time because the pain was awful. I couldn't eat for days, and was vomiting a LOT due to the amount of blood I ingested during the procedure.

Good luck!

[kells1983]

Originally Posted by starlux

Yup, this, this, this, this and THIS. :) If it weren't for the medicaid aspect, I'd totally be with the rest of the posters on here. But that really what it is, it's not the dentist being shady. Medicaid is a biotch to deal with for the office and it really has it's own set of rules and regs totally different from a regular dental insurance.

Yes... and even regular dental insurance is bad. My dentist was billing my insurance company, and it takes them upwards of 6-8 months to fully pay (I see the statements) because of a bunch of administrative hoops they must jump through. That's a long time to be without the fees you earned...

[Jahpson]

i had all 4 of my wisdoms removed at once and I couldn't tolerate spreading them out in months! whoa