Dear Dr. Perry,
I just wanted to tell you about something that could help dental patients in the future. Maybe they’re like me and don’t have much money. I go to the local dental school to get my teeth cleaned, because they only charge $50. They do a fantastic job with cleaning. Unfortunately, they don’t treat things like cavities and root canals. I needed a dental crown. I called around to every dentist in the city in order to find the absolute cheapest dentist around.
I ended up finding this guy that charged less than half of everyone else. I thought this would be a great way to get affordable dental care. He was a new dentist and just opening his first practice. I thought it would be a win-win situation. He’d graduated from dental school and needed some clients. I figured he knew what he was doing, as he had graduated. I was wrong.
He’s had to reinstall the dental crown four, yes FOUR times. That meant I’ve missed work three extra appointments. I’m payed by the hour, not salaried, so that has cost me a day and a half of pay in total. On top of that, buy the time he went to put the crown in the fourth time, it no longer fit right and caused me a lot of pain. We had to re-do another, brand new crown. Somehow between the fourth fit of the first crown and the second crown I got an infection. Now, I still have no crown, I’m dealing with an infection, and I’m out quite a bit of money. If I’d have just gone to a regular dentist to begin with instead of trying to find the cheapest, I would have save a lot of money.
I hope this saves some of your patients. It’s better to go to an experienced dentist, like Dr. Perry, than to “save money”.
Amelia M. – Oklahoma
Amelia,
Thank you for your warning. I have seen many disastrous “affordable” treatments in my lifetime. For future reference, there is no reason for a dental crown to fall out once, let alone four times. Competent dentists go their entire career without a crown falling out when it is cemented in.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.