Cost for a dental filling?

[Baz]

I found this older thread when I did a search for "dental insurance".

Thought there were some good posts here so will bring it back to life for hopefully more productive discussion.

I've generally had "good" teeth my entire life. But now that I'm in my 60's a few more involved dental issues are cropping up.

So far I've had two crowns.

The last visit, my dentist said one of my teeth looked like it had a small crack in it and he thought I should consider pulling it and getting an implant. It's my 2nd pre-molar upper right side.

I talked to my older brother and he said he had the same tooth pulled and never had anything done to replace it. He said you can't really notice when he smiles - plus - because it's an upper tooth - it's role isn't as important as the bottom one is in keeping the other teeth in line. Not a very scientific explanation but you get the point.

Now I've asked my dentist a few times about insurance and by their reaction, it seems they don't accept it. Not Humana anyway.

Which is what I have - a Humana hmo medicare advantage plan.

My Humana rep had told me since I don't have a ppo, and my hmo plan is very cost efficient, I'm better off just paying for my dental work myself.

So today in the mail I get a letter from Humana stating they now offer dental insurance for as low as $17/month.

Th estimate my dentist gave me for that implant was around $4K and crowns cost around $1K so I think this is worth looking into. Even if I decide against the implant. And I'm not even sure implants are covered.

I will post more in this thread when I have a chance to discuss this more with my rep.

In the meantime, if there are other Humana customers here - this might also be of interest to you.

[ckcarr]

Save your money...

[JackDidley]

I lost my dental coverage last April. Cleaning + xrays was $186 a couple weeks ago. Hope to get some coverage with my advantage plan for next year. Do not really have my hopes up. Even my dentists says most dental insurance is not very good.

[Evans, Marv]

Actually I just got a letter from our dentist a week ago listing insurance companies she would no longer accept. She appologized and wish patients with those companies luck finding a good dentist. It seems the companies she listed didn't pay enough to cover her costs. That made me wonder how much the insurance companies are squeezing the dentists.

[on2wheels52]

I think I have enough gold teeth from the pawn shop to buy a filling or two

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Actually I just got a letter from our dentist a week ago listing insurance companies she would no longer accept. She appologized and wish patients with those companies luck finding a good dentist. It seems the companies she listed didn't pay enough to cover her costs. That made me wonder how much the insurance companies are squeezing the dentists.

Terribly. I believe dental insurance will cease to exist in the future, or be limited to only low-end corporate dental practices.

[dennis in se pa]

Dental education cost is ridiculous, as is the cost of going to a dentist.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

Dental education cost is ridiculous, as is the cost of going to a dentist.

It is one or two years salary. Aside from limiting access, what's wrong with that?

I think I would spend $250k for a career that pays $200k plus.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Terribly. I believe dental insurance will cease to exist in the future, or be limited to only low-end corporate dental practices.

Dentist pal through P-car ownership says he will not take Medicaid as after the recovery shenanigans and final payment it's about 1/3 of FMV.

I have no dental insurance until Medicare next summer. I do hope a supplemental policy will allow me to get the basics tended to.