[Bugface]

Originally Posted by Yucatan2

Had my last teeth cleaning last December, after years of just normal cleanings it was recommended I see a periodontist. This dental office in Fruitland Park has a nice dentist and staff, but maybe not the advanced cleaning apparatus such as the ultrasonic unit. Anyway, because of not yet having my Covid vaccination, I put this off. Got vaccinated in April, then went on a 3 month camping trip.

Upon return, in late July I made an appointment at Dental on Fennell, because as a new modern office they seemed to have the latest equipment. Could not get in until Oct 12 for an initial appointment and cleaning.

I was there at least 1.5 hours getting panorama, multiple small xrays, some fancy camera views of every tooth. Finally the probing for gum depth. I heard mostly level 2,3 and a few 5’s in the molar areas. Dentist comes in, tells me my teeth are grinding and we could use Invisaline to correct them (big money), there are two small fillings he could fix, one on a far back molar that’s been there since the 1980’s. And of course, I need the deep cleaning and scaling to the tune of $1000, which my insurance doesn’t cover.

So, I end up leaving the office with NO cleaning, they will check again with insurance, as will I.

But it seems like I am being held hostage…..no teeth cleaning unless it is the deep cleaning first. I was not happy to say the least. Anyone know a dentist that will just do a cleaning, or is the insurance going to require the deep cleaning now that this dentist has recommended it?

I hope you will find this helpful - my recently retired husband was a dentist for 38 years. I worked in the front office for many of those years. His practice philosophy was keeping his patients healthy. He constantly kept up with continuing education and updated equipment that would be the most beneficial for his patients. Our new patient exam was 2 hours long and incredibly thorough. He would absolutely NEVER recommend any treatment that wasn’t necessary. That would be unethical. What is so difficult when you become a new patient is developing a level of trust with your new dentist. We would sometimes have new patients come in believing that they were in great shape when in fact they had serious periodontal disease or a host of other issues. And really how would the average person know? You have a level of trust with your previous dentist and you believe you are receiving the best care when in fact, you may not. I’m just saying that you may not want to just assume that the new office is being unethical. Periodontal issues can occur at any time, particularly as it had been a while since you had your last cleaning and exam. There is a very big difference between a “regular” cleaning and scaling & root planing. And after the scaling & root planing, usually you will need a 3 month interval for regular cleanings. The goal is to keep your natural teeth. (It is also much more expensive to replace teeth than to have appropriate care for your natural teeth.) Also, cleanings are not usually done at the new patient exam because not everyone needs the same kind of cleaning and they take different amounts of time. And one last thing - your insurance will not require you to have scaling and root planing because it was recommended. I hope this has been a little bit helpful! Good luck!