Is it difficult to bargain with a dentist?

My wife needs about 2K worth of dental work..We do not have dental coverage.. In your experience, will dentists bargain a bit and by how much.. She need an implant %26amp; a crown

Is it difficult to bargain with a dentist?
Do you bargain with your other doctors? $2000 is cheap for an investment that will allow her to eat comfortably.
Reply:Sounds like she's already getting a bargain if it's only 2k. You better check again because 2k won't get you an implant any where I've heard of. If it did, I wouldn't trust it or the dentist.


As far as bargaining with the dentist goes, I've known of some patients that "Barter," but they usually have a service (catering, dress/clothing store, lawn care service) or goods offered at a discount price or sometimes free, that the Dentist might want. But in my experience that has only happened with close friends of the Dentist. I would discuss the options of making payments on the needed work. And ask for the full price, I'm guessing that you have a price for what is needed immediately to save 1 tooth. That probably covers a root canal, post and core build up, with a crown. Hope I've been of some help, good luck!
Reply:consiger Mexico. Do your research depending where you live you could save by half.American dentists are greedy and they make their money off the rich first then when poor people who simply cant afford their outrageous prices teeth fall out they make money off them for dentures, a crown and a bridge you could definately save alot on and if your in texas its right across the border.The majority are good clean places but do your homework. Hope something works out.
Reply:Generally speaking, dentists do not negotiate fees. In spite of the general perception, I think we are careful with our fees. They have to be fairly "high" anyhow, since we must pay staff and provide a facility that is at the high level that most consumer/patients have come to expect. There is not too much "fat" in the fees.





While I occasionally decide to voluntarily reduce a fee for a particular patient whom I feel needs a break, I just can not be in a position of negotiating fees. There are several reasons for this. First of all, whenever I sign an insurance form, there are words to the effect of "these fees are the actual fees charged to the majority of my patients, without regard to the existence of insurance." This brings up an interesting side-bar topic. You suggest that you would not pay what the insurance company was not planning to pay anyhow, but virtually ALL dental insurance contracts that my patients have pay on the basis of a PERCENT of the actual fee charged. If I bill $200 for a procedure and the contract says they will pay 80%, that does not mean the procedure is only worth 80% of my fee. The same holds true when they only allow for a 50% payment. The idea here is to actually force some of the financial burden to the patient so they will not simply say, "What the heck. Insurance will cover it." When they need to come up with part of the balance due, they have a bit mroe concern about the costs and the procedures performed. Obviously, the more expensive items are reimbursed at a lower percent most of the time to encourage the patient to go for the lower cost service. For instance, they might pay 80% for a filling or extraction, but only 50% for a replacement. This encourages the patient to take care of the problem (one way or another) in a way that would be relatively inexpensive for the insurance company and then it discourages them from having the higher priced service. Imagine this conversation.





Patient: How much is it to pull my tooth?


Dentist: $120 and the insurance will pay $96.


Patient: How much for a replacement?


Dentist: $2,400 and insurance would pay $1,200, but you have a $1,000 annual limit, so that will leave you with a $1,400 balance.


Patient: YIKES! How much to fill it instead of pulling it?


Dentist: $160 and the insurance will pay $128.





This is an extreme example, but obviously it is cheaper to the patient to fill the tooth than to have it pulled and replaced.





I do offer a discount that is quite common in the profession. If someone pre-pays a case that is over $1,000 total fee, I will give them a 5% discount. This is not a "discount for cash," but simply for any form of payment. Ask your dentist about that. Even if you put it on a charge card, that's $100 off your $2,000 bill. Just ask if there is any discount for prepayment, though, because some will go to 10% without your asking. It just depends on their policy. The only condition I have on this prepayment discount is that it is due in full at the next office visit when the work actually commences and not "sometime before it is done."