Whether a commercial, market-based, group insurance or some form of Medicare-4-All, the dental health of prospective customers, as well as dentist revenue for their needed services will suffer from such structural pricing negligence.

Being a military retiree, who endured the A-rrogant R-uling the M-any for Y-ou, I put up with the petty, structural politics-civilian/military-that made service a moral Russian roulette as well as its physical wager for surviving that done in the name of flag, country, and as an after thought 'GOD'. My induction at the end of the deployments to 'Nam and my retirement aft/a medical no-go b/c they didn't want to bother w/any diagnostics or therapy for a sprained ankle or wrist at the deployment physical spared me the direct consequences of the idiocy of American Exceptionalism political prerogatives.

So now as a retiree, I can hold out and endure the pain for an urgent look see at the base dental clinic as part of their sick-call protocols, than forking out high sums of money under the present provider-controlled market.

 

Terrific.

 

No, it's just hard to know exactly what you're saying. I left my secret decoder in the truck.

 

Went from getting high and listening to music in black holes to dental insurance...how did that happen

 

In my experience working in corporate jobs with average healthcare plans, dental insurance really pays for a very small portion of any work that might need to be done. Between the tiny maximum it will pay yearly and the large co-pays, it really is good for semi annual cleanings, and that's about it.

 

Why yes, dental insurance is a joke.
The premiums are high, the benefits minimal (virtually every dental plan caps out at $1,500 a year) and there are a lot of suspense periods.

Now, Shooter knew a decade ago that he would be needing dentures. He checked into implants, and learned that the cost of a full mouth of implants would be $16,000.

So Shooter had been planning, and budgeting for, dental work last year when other medical issues intervened.
Then Covid.

So, Shooter has recently been looking again into dentures; or rather dental implants, which have come a long way since he was quoted $16,000. Their are plenty of options, plenty of price schedules, lots of advances in technology and dental insurance still sucks a big fat wienie.

Anyway, we're now told a full mouth of dental implants, or what they cleverly call "all on four" will run anywhere from $28,000 to $56,000 (holy shit!!), depending on the specific type of denture, specific anchoring method, whether shit like "bone augmentation" or "ridge expansion" is required, and of course, the cost of the dentists new Beemer. (kay, that last is a joke).

Plus, we have learned, these dentists don't like to be accountable for everything, so they pull in other dentists to share the work. One to pull teeth. Another to implant the implant posts. Another to make the temporary dentures. Another to monitor the healing process (those "teeth in a day" outfits? total fakes.) which takes 2-4 months, and back to the dentist who makes dentures to make your permanent dentures. Which are not permanent as we understand the term.

But the thing is, your run of the mill dentures, the ones Grandma had, run $8,000 to $10,000 and are high maintenance themselves. Dental implants are a better long term deal, but damnit! they cost way more than Shooter's first (or second) house, more than his last car, more than he budgeted for foreign travel for the next two years.

The point is, getting old is pigeon poop, it is not for sissies, and damn it, the trip to New Zealand is postponed afuckingain.

 

Wife and I maybe 8 years ago flew to Costa Rica for her dental work, her wish, substantial savings, thousands taking into account the cost of travel etc, she has been more than happy with the work no complaints.
The office and experience was excellent...By the way loved the place too.

 

Shooter is looking into traveling to get implants.
The savings is significant, and according to most the quality and safety are comparable.
But, Shooter tries to buy American whenever he can.
Decisions, decisions.

 

Dental insurance covers next to nothing, and forget orthodontics if you have kids.

 

You can get cheap dental work in Mexico, and they'll line each front tooth with a gold rim too.

 

Germans for example go ti Thailand do all necessery dental treatment live and rest there for two weeks and it comes cheaper. Than to do it in Germany. Why Don t you folks not to go to Mexico, or Russia and do the same. For us it is also not cheap but affordable. Best wishes.,bad Russian

 

Russian dentist??
*shudders

 

Lesson learned.
So Shooter got a quote from a dentist. A well respected guy who does implants exclusively, comes highly recommended, plus Shooter likes him.
$38,000.
shit.

So, Shooter explains, for this kind of money, he needs a second opinion, and will get back to the Dr.
Shooter goes to his 2nd choice. Another well respected guy, pretty much does nothing but implants, and has a high recommendation score. This guy though wants to know what the other dr. quoted, which is a huge red flag. shooter tells him, he will tell when (if) this guy is selected.
But, this guy has two other options that Shooter has not seen; "all on two" which is just a fancy way of saying two implant posts, instead of four or six. And, a nifty new type of post that (supposedly) doesn't wear out, puts less stress on the denture, less stress on the bone, heals faster because there is less stress, and is cheaper, although the implant process costs more.

Anyway, Shooter gets a price; $28,000, and he's thinking OK, now we're getting somewhere.

Then the first dentist calls Shooter, wants to know how the search is going, and Shooter tells him about the "all on two" and the other posts. This dentist says he doesn't do all on two because they slip around and people end up not liking them, which is kind of what Shooter figured about them. But, he said he'd heard about the other new posts, just hadn't had occasion to try them. So, to make a long story short, first doc says we can do the new posts for $22,000.

Here's the thing. First, Shooter doesn't want to be some dentists Guinea pig. First doc says he hasn't done these new posts yet, which is why the low quote. Second, the other doc has worked with these new posts, and says they'd be a good choice for Shooter.

Plus, this doc has a robot thingy that is pretty cool, it precisely sets the posts where they need to be and exactly at the depth they need to be. This is a big deal; number one reason why implants fail is problems with the implant of the posts. Robot thingy is not a pure robot; it takes the measurements from 3d scans and the dentist says "I want a post right here". Robot thingy goes right there, doc says do it, and the robot thingy does it. Drills, implants and sets.

So anyway, Shooter is thinking first doc, if he goes with "all on four" and second doc if he goes with the new posts.

But, sonofabitch!
These things are infuckingspensive!
Sorry New Zealand, be another year before we can get down there.

 

Yes indeed. Shooter understands, dentists, like all doctors, have a lot of money invested in their profession, and a lot goes into staying current. They also have incredible overhead, in particular insurance and equipment.
Shooter has little complaint about the charges, only that DAMN!!.

If anyone figures out how to make dental insurance work, they'll make Billions!

 

I would just get an upper denture and lower partial for a fraction of that cost. But then I'm a cheap bastardo.

 

Posted this:
Dental Group Insurance Company
Funders-Operational Experts for a Dental Group Insurance Company

NETWORK HERE
#DENTAL_INSURANCE_PROFESSIONALS NEEDED
Financiers, Investors, Actuaries, Statisticians, Underwriters, Marketers, CEO/COO/CFO's, Supply Chain Logicians, etc..
Willing to fund/operate a #DentalGroupInsurance operation
================================================
at Twitter-Facebook-Reddit-Wireclub-Linkedin-Fubar-Craiglist/Health Discussion
---------------------
Wait and see