You don’t want the dentist doing any sort of cleaning for two reason: a hygienist will typically be better at it and, secondly, the dentist should be spending his/her time doing exams and restorative work. Root planing, aka deep cleaning, is appropriate when you have periodontal disease with deep pockets that can’t be reached with dental floss. It is a standard practice in dentistry. Whether you need it is another story. If you move and start with a new dentist who recommends this procedure and your previous dentist did not, then you might want to get a second opinion. There are essentially two possibilities: your previous dentist was remiss or the new dentist is recommending a treatment you don’t need.

Keep in mind, many if not ALL dental practices here and the surrounding area (Marion Dental) have hygienists working on COMMISSION. That's right, a commission basis verified by one of Marion Dentals own staff.
I go there since I went through 2 others in The Villages in 6 months. All of which wanted to literally rape my wallet. Estimates ranged from $4,800-$6,000 worth of up-sold "preventative " work. I called Bulls**t and went elsewhere. Marion was the only "fair" practice. Caution...they will not accept any form of Medicare insurance. Good luck. Most dental offices are jamm packed.

Your "numbers" may be the depth of your pockets. Once they get too deep, you can't reach them with dental floss and more frequent cleaning may be necessary to maintain them (i.e. not get worse). You may wish to consider getting a second opinion.

My own experience would also suggest that choosing a dentist outside of The Villages may be a good idea. Our dentist is well outside The Villages, after one not so great visit to a dental office within The Villages.

I agree that the hygienist may be better at cleaning, but, if they are charging more than $1,000 per hour, where is the money going? A hygienist makes about $40-50 per hour. The deep cleaning charge seemed very excessive to me. In my case, the hygienist made the diagnosis and was to do the procedure with no involvement with the dentist. My dentist in Leesburg has not recommended a deep cleaning.

Upselling for a cancer screening? That is interesting. My dentist does it automatically as part of the annual exam. They use a special light. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning for making it optional - either you need it or not, in their professional opinion.

I don't worry about where the money is going - not my concern. My concern would be a correct diagnosis and effective treatment. My wife practiced for 35 years and we have, according to her, an excellent dentist so we don't typically have any real concerns. Our dentist is not inside The Villages.

Did they chart the depth of any pockets? Do you have periodontal disease?

I never heard of deep cleaning until I came to Florida. The dentist want $800 and I refused. They cleaned my teeth for $94. Stand up for yourself.

They didn't give me a chart, but when I discussed it with my previous longtime dentist from Virginia, he said that I didn't need a deep cleaning, and my new dentist in Leesburg agreed. No periodontal disease.

I don't care where the money goes either, but I don't have dental insurance, and I certainly would not pay a hygienist 20 times as much as the average hourly rate for a dental hygienist.

Lack of periodontal disease at our ages is a good thing. Keep up the good home care.

You do realize that what the practice pays the hygienist is just the beginning of their actual costs of delivering treatment? I will have to check with my wife (retired for a while so perhaps a little out of touch with current fees), but I believe $250 a quadrant is a typical cost for root planing. I am lucky in that my wife practiced otherwise separating the wheat from the chaff could be challenging. Second opinions are good.

I had a Florida dentist pull that on us, wife and I had a cleaning, then a month later they said mine was a deep cleaning so I owe them $100 or so more, my wife’s was $15 with insurance. I paid my wife’s $15, I paid $15 for my cleaning then denied the remainder. I’d get a bill every now and then for a couple years. If you deny a bill/charge they’d have to win in court to get anything or even put it on your credit.

So if your insurance company does not cover something yes you are responsible for it. If you’re not sure about it, you should check with your insurance company before you proceed further as far as the late fee goes, there should be no late fee due to the fact that they were billing the insurance company so I would’ve paid the difference, but not paid the late fee

Insurance Commissioner
 

This was a ridiculously long time ago but I used to work for a small hospital in Incline Village NV processing insurance claims. During that time I got pregnant with my first child. About six months in the hospital changed insurance companies and in due time I had a C-section which cost $10,000. The new insurance company denied it saying my pregnancy was a pre-existing condition. Well it wasn't my fault the hospital changed insurance companies and after a YEAR of trying to get them to pay the bills I got a great tip to file a claim with the insurance commissioner. All of the bills were paid within one week after that.

It has been my experience that lot of these insurance companies will automatically deny a claim as policy.

Same thing happened when my dad had a stroke and my mom got the bills afterwards. The insurance companies denied everything even though it was an emergency and he was covered. I told her I would handle it. Bills paid.

Don't just roll over and pay the bills yourself. If you know you're covered fight for your rights.

My previous dental experience was that I was told I needed a deep cleaning. My insurance paid a portion but I had to pay around a $130. I thought that I could go back and start getting quarterly cleaning but was told I couldn't and would have to continue with the deep cleanings. I dumped them and went to Oaks Dental Care. I was able to get on a quarterly cleaning schedule and my insurance covered the whole bill. The dentist looked at my teeth and said there were a couple of areas of concerns but would just keep an eye on it for the time being. It's so refreshing to be dealing with an honest dentist. Everyone in the office is friendly and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Respectfully, I’m not sure the dental office is responsible if your insurance company refused to pay your bill. Wondering if you contacted the insurance company before work was done, and did they approve these particular procedures, was a deductible involved etc. Apparently the dental office was turned down when they submitted the claim. Or, did they not submit the claim at all?

However, I have Never heard of a dental office charging a “late fee.” That’s a red flag right there. They aren’t a credit card company! Steer clear from them, but be absolutely certain your insurance covers your next procedure. By the way, I was really taken aback by the way some dental offices in The Villages do business. It’s all about the money. They’d give me free complete X-rays, then write up a treatment plan for thousands of dollars. So I agree, you do have to be a bit wary.