Dentist

I don’t even know where to start. As a practicing dentist for 35 years, I have seen many people who have similar experiences as you have voiced. First thing that must be addressed is that the insurance company is not the dentist. If the treatment you want and need is not covered, that is your problem. The insurance companies usually only pay for the least expensive alternative treatments. Thus if you want something better, they may not pay. That is not the dentist’s fault or problem. As to the costs involved, remember that it takes 8 years of college. Most dentists graduate with well over $700,000 debt. And they did not work during the 8 years. Take your salary away from you for 8 years straight, go ahead and do the math. Then add up all your expenses for 8 years. Most likely you will have a very big debt to pay. Now, without any income you have to start up a practice. Equipment alone is $5-800,000. And you are renting space. Add the building cost if you buy it.

So, you now are saddled with $1,500,000 debt. Salaries of employees and expenses run better than 75%. So that $300 extraction nets the dentist, $75. How many of those does it take to pay off your debt? You get my point.

Medicare reimbursement rates are atrocious and the certifications required are not only time consuming but completely burdensome with bureaucratic nonsense. I would rather donate my time and deliver free dentistry than do the paperwork for Medicare. Fwiw, I do about $25-30 thousand dollars of donated dental services each year. I choose who I give it to.
The fees quoted above are reasonable for most dental offices. Also, just to bring a patient into the office, someone needs to be on the phone for 30 minutes or so verifying insurance benefits. Then trying to collect from the insurance companies is another tall order. They will deny claims even after a prior authorization has been submitted. Then the lack of trust comes between the patient and the dental practice when it should be between the patient and the insurance companies.