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It's an office visit! I don't know where you live but take a look outside the US. Los Algodones, MX comes to mind right away and they are right across the border from Yuma. The place runs on providing less expensive dental and vision care than what's available in the US. Yuma is always full of people coming and going from Las Algodones.
As Flamingo mentioned, this tread is old and I doubt the op needs an answer to the question at this time. As for recommending crossing the border, I don't think most who post here live close to the Yuma border and I would be careful about going to Mexico for dental work. We lived in NM for about 7 years and knew people who did must that. Some had great results, but unless you are within an hour or so, from the dentist it is inconvenient to return for follow ups, plus they do not always stand behind their work. Let's just say, proceed with caution.
I know this is an old thread but I'd like to vent whenever I can:
Dentists do some work but overall they are indeed a scam or try to scam you whenever possible. My wife was scheduled to have her wisdom teeth (4 of them) removed sometimes in January 2016. We had estimate and everything and it wasn't too far away from what you'd expect based on insurance numbers. I received a mail in December 2015 saying bill would be almost double now as Dr has doubled his price starting next year! I called the office and said how can he do that if he's still taking that insurance - office said yes he's still taking that insurance but he's doubled his price!! WTF!! I said OK cancel the appointment please.
So I found a new one; scheduled the appointment and everything. Procedure was done and then a month or two later I got a huge bill from dentist's office. I called to figure out why and they said insurance has denied coverage and now you have to pay for it. OK. I call insurance to figure out why they denied it. They say it was a big procedure and pre authorization was needed and dentist office should have done that and they know that this is required. I called the office again and explained them why it was denied. Just like a lawyer's office they refuse to accept that they neglected anything and said their office would look into ot. I had to go back and forth with them so many times. Finally they "waived" the additional charged as a gesture of goodwill!! Yeah Goodwill
Even attorneys don't even have the gall to charge for that.
Some attorneys do indeed charge for consultations.
The estate planning firm our family uses charged us for our first meeting -- and we were recommended by another client.
They also said bring with you any papers and documents you want us to look over. Nothing too deep but still they did give us some info and suggestions for action that we didn't have before. So they also actually did advise us in that initial consultation.
Yes, it's common to charge a consultation fee.
Next time you go for an appointment for an uninsured item, as up front when the appointment is made about a consultation fee.
Some will offer free consultations but you better believe that cost is added to your bill for services later rendered.
Think for a minute: if the doctor is offering free consultation visits and you don't have or want to spend the $4k for the implant, no matter if he's the best, he'll be out of business if no one shows up for the actual paid work.
BTW for those wondering, YES dental implants, even for one tooth, run in the thousands of dollars. Think about it: even at the dental clinic I go to, it costs$900 for a root canal. It costs another$300 for a temp crown on top and then the final crown. And that's a discounted clinic!!!
Dental work had never been cheap unless it's a cleaning or simple check up.
I know this is an old thread but I'd like to vent whenever I can:
Dentists do some work but overall they are indeed a scam or try to scam you whenever possible. My wife was scheduled to have her wisdom teeth (4 of them) removed sometimes in January 2016. We had estimate and everything and it wasn't too far away from what you'd expect based on insurance numbers. I received a mail in December 2015 saying bill would be almost double now as Dr has doubled his price starting next year! I called the office and said how can he do that if he's still taking that insurance - office said yes he's still taking that insurance but he's doubled his price!! WTF!! I said OK cancel the appointment please.
So I found a new one; scheduled the appointment and everything. Procedure was done and then a month or two later I got a huge bill from dentist's office. I called to figure out why and they said insurance has denied coverage and now you have to pay for it. OK. I call insurance to figure out why they denied it. They say it was a big procedure and pre authorization was needed and dentist office should have done that and they know that this is required. I called the office again and explained them why it was denied. Just like a lawyer's office they refuse to accept that they neglected anything and said their office would look into ot. I had to go back and forth with them so many times. Finally they "waived" the additional charged as a gesture of goodwill!! Yeah Goodwill
We have had some problems with similar situations but not quite the same. After going to the dentist we loved for many years about 3 years ago we found ourselves needing to change dentist. Our insurance no longer would give any discount, as they had for several years if we choose a dentist outside the network. Anyway we found a new one. After our appointment and my husbands cleaning we were called into the finance office where a young lady went over all the work we both needed and the cost. The price was way out of line and much of the work seemed not necessary. To add to all this we get a bill for an outrageous amount of money. We were informed they do not accept our insurance anymore even though I had checked when making the appointment. Long story short, we never heard from them again. We do get reminders every year it is time for our check up.
Now, we are facing the same thing again though the new dentist is part of our plan. We had basic cleaning, hubby had a small procedure done which he paid the deductible on that day. When we got our final bill it was over he top. Not only did they charge extra for some of XRays (some of the xrays were covered) they had added all kinds of costs and yes, including a consultation charge. Why? Because I asked the dentist how much it would cost to have a wisdom tooth that was bothering pulled. To add to all this, they never billed the insurance for my work, only hubby's. We call both the insurance company and the dentist. That was over 3 months ago; so far we have not heard another word. Needless to say, we are now looking for another dentist. Oh and btw they couldn't give hubby any reason for not billing the insurance company for my check up.
Sometimes a thread needs to be regurgitated as it may be appropriate to someone else who may be in the same boat, and may have researched to find this old thread to bring it to the surface, or someone with too much time who goes mining for old threads to regurgitate.
Others may find us in the info in this old thread.
Just sayin'
My teeth and their care are tooo important to me to "shop around" for a major procedure like a implant or anything close to oral surgery. I have been going to my dentist for 15 years. He has always done a great job in all areas of my care. When I inquired about fixing my front teeth he was more excited than I was ! I never interpreted that it was about the money...it was about my overall well being and appearance.
I don't remember if there was a consult fee but I broached the subject During and right after a routine visit. He went straight to the consultation...what to expect, how many appts it would take, etc. the desk told me what the cost would be. (it was not coverd by insurance and I did not expect it to be). I gladly wrote the check to pay my bill and for 7 years I still love my new smile! He did a great job! Why I waited all of these years to correct a bad smile I will never know. ( fear of the cost..tho I never inquired either) worth every dollar! And I felt that his fees were fair. This was not the time to take a chance on another dentist that I did not know.
Mae
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