The Upstate Life

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

I Have a Plaque Problem

While leaving the dentist office for a routine checkup last Friday, I thought to myself, it never should have come to this. I was basically broken the news that, yes, I have a plaque problem. I felt like Larry David in that episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where everyone at the party is approaching him about how his plaque issues. And just like Larry, I still deny it. Granted, I'm not the best flosser, but come on now, do you honestly know anyone that is? The hygienist informed me that the bottom line, however, was that I needed to become a born-again flosser. Otherwise, a not-so-pleasant trip to the periodontist would be in the cards, and believe me, no one wants that.

Anyway, a routine examination at the dentist with my health insurance is supposed to come out to a modest $20 co-pay. That was at least the case the last three times I've visited. Not so this time around my friends. The procedure done, which was defined as a debridement, was apparently not covered by my insurance, thus forcing me to pay an out of pocket cost of, get this, $179! Obviously, coming in and thinking to pay $20 then getting slammed with a $179 bill instead is quite a shocker. Here's the kicker: they didn't even really do anything different compared to previous office visits, or so I thought. Sorry for the following definition of what a debridement supposedly is, but hey, at least you'll know that your teeth are probably in better shape than mine:

Full mouth debridement is intended for patients who present with excessive calculus that prevent the dental professional from diagnosing the periodontal condition. Full mouth debridement is considered a preliminary procedure and is performed to enable comprehensive evaluation and diagnosis. It is not intended to include the actual comprehensive periodontal evaluation and diagnosis.

Lovely, I know. Basically, they used that metal scraping tool we all hate in order to remove all those wonderful plaque deposits and such. Evidently, in these days of rising healthcare costs and all, this is now a $179 procedure. If I would've known that beforehand, I'd be playing a PSP rather than writing this post. It really perplexes me because the dentist herself performed this same exact procedure the past several times but billed me the normal evaluation fee. This visit, however, the hygienist did the dentist's dirty work instead, plotting a devious scheme to secretly record TUL at the receptionist desk after the debridement, watching him scramble through his credit cards and quickly determine which of the bunch one had the latest payment due date. After two or three phone calls later in the afternoon with the office about how absurd this was, the dentist was able to knock off $79 from the bill, resulting in a more affordable $100 balance. Not bad, but still five times more than what I was originally intending to pay. I hope McCray picked up on the simple math.

Posted by Brett at 5:14 PM |