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I’d like to see cost information on the dentist’s website

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Dr. Hall,
Thank you for providing all the dental cost information.

I wonder if Dentists would be willing to post their dental cost on their website so that we don’t waste their time by not being able to afford their fee. Western Dental post their fees online. I love it because I can compare prices before I make an appointment.

Gilroy from California

Dear Gilroy,
As you’ve noticed, some dentists do post cost information on their website. But most don’t.

The reason is that most dentists aren’t angling for the “cheap dental care” market. They know how to trim costs, use cheaper materials, do procedures faster—all of these would enable them to charge cheaper fees. They just don’t want to practice dentistry that way.

If that is what you’re looking for, I would look for that cost information online, because those will be the dentists who want to compete on price. But I wouldn’t recommend that, even if you’re looking to save money. Which is cheaper, a $150 filling that lasts 5 years, or a $220 filling that lasts 25 years? Now, I’m not implying that the higher fee dentist is necessarily better. But I’m pretty sure that the cheapest dentist isn’t going to use the best materials and the most careful technique.

I do think that it’s smart to avoid dentists with exorbitant fees. I will tell you what I did when I moved to a new city and was trying to size up my options in selecting a dentist. I called the office and asked for fees for a couple of common procedures, to see if they were excessive. I was prepared to pay more than the going rate, but I didn’t want a dentist who was going to charge, say, double. To me, dentists like that aren’t the most caring, and that’s what I wanted to avoid. I would suggest asking for the fees for:
• a routine cleaning
• a two-surface composite filling on a back tooth
• a crown on a back tooth

Comparing those fees should give you an idea of the going rate in your community and help you know where each particular dentist stands as far as affordability.

– Dr. Hall

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Why you have to be able to trust your dentist

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Dr. Hall,
I have a split tooth but the x-ray reveals a healthy root…my doc want to extract and I want him to save it! How do I convince a dentist to try something new like that described in your paper? Dentists seem to want to extract to solve all problems, use scare tactics and it’s hard to believe they are not doing it for the money since much more expense is involved in an extraction and insertion of a new tooth….I want to keep as much of me together as long as I can!!!

thanks
Mike from West Virginia

Mike,
This is one thing I worry about when I give patients these answers to their dental questions, that they will take this information and go back to their dentist and try to “convince” the dentist of one thing or another, or tell the dentist how to make their cosmetic dentistry more beautiful, or tell the dentist what type of filling or crown they want, different from what the dentist recommends. That will not work. The purpose of this website isn’t to help patients educate or change their dentist. What you need instead is to find a dentist with a philosophy that you are more comfortable with.

You aren’t going to convince your dentist to save this split tooth if he has told you that he wants to extract it. It would be misguided of us to even have me personally call your dentist and convince him to save it. I couldn’t do that because I haven’t examined you and for all I know maybe that is the only option here. But there are dentists who are strongly inclined toward saving teeth, and other dentists simply don’t want to do that. And this philosophy permeates their practice at many levels. If a dentist wants to save teeth at all costs, for example, he or she will need to spend focused study on the techniques for saving teeth, dealing with cracks in teeth, what to do for failed root canal treatments, advanced periodontal techniques, and a whole host of things. At the other end of the spectrum, if a dentist just wants to take out problem teeth then they won’t go through all that extra trouble. What point is there, then, trying to convince a dentist to save this tooth when he probably doesn’t even know how?

But it is not true that “dentists” in general just want to extract teeth. There is a wide variety of inclinations here. And I firmly believe, from my experience with the dental profession, that the vast majority of dentists are highly ethical people who honestly try to do the best for their patients. They have varying levels of skills and different philosophies. And if you have cause to believe that your dentist is just in this for the money, then you need to find a different dentist. There is no way to work around this trust issue. There is no way, as a patient, that you can check up on your dentist to make sure he is making the right decisions for your teeth. In this situation of yours, even I, as another dental professional, don’t know enough about your case to be able to say if your dentist is doing the right thing or not. You HAVE to be able to trust him. If you don’t, then find another dentist.

Dr. Hall

We thank our advertisers who help fund this site.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Beware of insurance plans that don’t include your dentist!

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I got this request from a website visitor regarding a dentist I know in Louisiana. I forwarded it to his office, but then also wrote an e-mail to the patient and thought I would share this with you. This dentist is an excellent general dentist, not in our cosmetic dentistry network, but a fine general dentist, and I felt the patient was making a mistake with the approach he was taking.

“I was Dr. X’s patient for years but unfortunately he’s not in my insurance network. I was trying to get his e-mail address to send him a list of available dental providers in Baton Rouge so he could recommend one. Thanks for your help.”
– J

Dear J,
This is Dr. David Hall. I’m a dentist who runs the company that services Dr. X’s website. I just happened to see your request, and it has been forwarded to Dr. X’s office. But I thought I’d offer a word of advice.

I have run a dental blog for many years where I answer questions by patients, and I can tell you that I have seen many sob stories of dental care that started with this move that you’re about to make – you have a dental insurance plan that doesn’t include the dentist you have trusted for years, you switched to the dentist that accepted your insurance, and that is when all your troubles started.

What is going on behind the scenes, that you don’t see, is that the insurance company is trying to cut costs. They probably approached Dr. Collins and all the dentists in the area with their discount fee plan and Dr. Collins was one of those dentists who said, no, I can’t maintain the quality of services I wish to provide and cut the corners I need to in order to accommodate your fee schedule. So the insurance company has found a group of dentists who are willing to cut those corners, and now you’re about to trust your mouth to their care.

I would think twice about that.

With most of these plans, you can see a dentist of your choosing if you’re willing to pay a little more. I’d really suggest that you look into that option.

Dr. David Hall

Links: Read more about preferred provider plans.

We thank our advertisers who help fund this site.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

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