C
c247
Junior member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2016
- Messages
- 6
Hi, everyone. I just posted this topic in the "Find a Dentist" section:
[out-of-date link removed]
I didn't find much in the way of recommendations for my area, which seems odd since it's Los Angeles. Just one recommendation for an expensive guy out in Santa Monica. There must be more around here, no? I was hoping to find a "special needs" dentist who works with disabled and severely phobic people. This is for my wife who hasn't seen a dentist for 27 years. She's 39 now and terrified about having to do this.
She hasn't had any major dental pain in the past 27 years but I'm sure she has a number of cavities. Just the other day, she bit into something hard and it made a small crack/hole in one of her molars. The grooves in her molars are dark brown/black in some spots. This hole isn't really causing any pain unless she bites down on it. But I imagine it is collecting food and needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. This is obviously going to be a huge scary thing after so many years of neglect. She has wisdom teeth that need to be taken care of as well. Depending on how bad things are, we could be in for a very extensive and pricey treatment.
One thing I really don't want to happen is for the dentist to make some kind of comment while examining her teeth that will upset her. I'd really prefer it if he didn't say anything about what kind of problems he sees until after the exam. And I'd prefer he tell ME what the situation is privately and then I can tell my wife about it and explain her options. The idea of a stranger telling her upsetting things just makes the situation worse. I need to be able to sit down with her and tell her what's going on. Is an arrangement like this unheard of? I imagine if a kid goes to the dentist, they will talk to the parent and leave the kid out of it so as not to upset them. That's the kind of situation I'd really prefer.
I'm also very confused about insurance. She has a regular PPO healthcare plan that does not include dental coverage. That can be added for just $30 or so a month, but it appears they only cover part of the expenses up to $1000 and after that, you pay full price for everything. This doesn't seem very good for someone who will probably have to have a lot of work done. I've seen other plans like Delta Dental that have various options but it's really confusing to me.
This may be a stupid question but do you have to have insurance before your initial exam or can you get it afterward? What is the best strategy insurance-wise for someone in her position? I really have no idea how extensive her treatment will be and how much it could possibly cost. Is it too late to get insurance at this point? Although this isn't an emergency (yet), I want her to see someone ASAP. But I want to find someone who caters to phobic patients. I've been searching around the internet and keep running into conflicting information that has me very worried.
Take this example. This dentist claims to "cater to cowards," i.e. phobic patients. Perhaps the attempt at humor should be a warning sign, but her Yelp reviews are mostly positive. But the negative ones always scare me. Take a look at the second and third one-star reviews here:
[out-of-date link removed]
The idea of someone ordering unnecessarily complicated procedures involving extractions is really not something a phobic patient who has avoided the dentist for nearly 30 years needs to be worrying about. How could any person in a trusted authority position whose job it is to care for desperately scared people be so soulless as to pull something like that? And non-disclosure agreements? WTF? The problem is I seem to find something like this for just about everyone I look up. Like this guy:
[out-of-date link removed]
Special needs dentist? So far, so good. And from the website:
Call Now...You're conversation will always be with Dr. Minsky!! The phone call with Dr. Minsky is free...Each patients needs are important. That's why Dr. Minsky is the only person you will speak with. When you call, Dr. Minsky can answer your questions about insurance, treatment, and cost. You won't be frustrated, angry, or wasting your time calling the office!
Dr. Minsky listens to his patients and knows how frustrating it can be making endless calls hoping to find a dentist who will treat someone with special needs.
Wow, sounds like a lock. Let's check out his Yelp reviews:
[out-of-date link removed]
Not many reviews, but all five-star. This could be the one. Let's just do a final Google search... Uh-oh:
[out-of-date link removed]
[out-of-date link removed]
[out-of-date link removed]
So what the heck am I supposed to believe? How can I possibly trust anyone enough to put my severely phobic wife's mouth in their hands? I knew this was going to be difficult but there seems to be a lot more to worry about than I imagined.
[out-of-date link removed]
I didn't find much in the way of recommendations for my area, which seems odd since it's Los Angeles. Just one recommendation for an expensive guy out in Santa Monica. There must be more around here, no? I was hoping to find a "special needs" dentist who works with disabled and severely phobic people. This is for my wife who hasn't seen a dentist for 27 years. She's 39 now and terrified about having to do this.
She hasn't had any major dental pain in the past 27 years but I'm sure she has a number of cavities. Just the other day, she bit into something hard and it made a small crack/hole in one of her molars. The grooves in her molars are dark brown/black in some spots. This hole isn't really causing any pain unless she bites down on it. But I imagine it is collecting food and needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. This is obviously going to be a huge scary thing after so many years of neglect. She has wisdom teeth that need to be taken care of as well. Depending on how bad things are, we could be in for a very extensive and pricey treatment.
One thing I really don't want to happen is for the dentist to make some kind of comment while examining her teeth that will upset her. I'd really prefer it if he didn't say anything about what kind of problems he sees until after the exam. And I'd prefer he tell ME what the situation is privately and then I can tell my wife about it and explain her options. The idea of a stranger telling her upsetting things just makes the situation worse. I need to be able to sit down with her and tell her what's going on. Is an arrangement like this unheard of? I imagine if a kid goes to the dentist, they will talk to the parent and leave the kid out of it so as not to upset them. That's the kind of situation I'd really prefer.
I'm also very confused about insurance. She has a regular PPO healthcare plan that does not include dental coverage. That can be added for just $30 or so a month, but it appears they only cover part of the expenses up to $1000 and after that, you pay full price for everything. This doesn't seem very good for someone who will probably have to have a lot of work done. I've seen other plans like Delta Dental that have various options but it's really confusing to me.
This may be a stupid question but do you have to have insurance before your initial exam or can you get it afterward? What is the best strategy insurance-wise for someone in her position? I really have no idea how extensive her treatment will be and how much it could possibly cost. Is it too late to get insurance at this point? Although this isn't an emergency (yet), I want her to see someone ASAP. But I want to find someone who caters to phobic patients. I've been searching around the internet and keep running into conflicting information that has me very worried.
Take this example. This dentist claims to "cater to cowards," i.e. phobic patients. Perhaps the attempt at humor should be a warning sign, but her Yelp reviews are mostly positive. But the negative ones always scare me. Take a look at the second and third one-star reviews here:
[out-of-date link removed]
The idea of someone ordering unnecessarily complicated procedures involving extractions is really not something a phobic patient who has avoided the dentist for nearly 30 years needs to be worrying about. How could any person in a trusted authority position whose job it is to care for desperately scared people be so soulless as to pull something like that? And non-disclosure agreements? WTF? The problem is I seem to find something like this for just about everyone I look up. Like this guy:
[out-of-date link removed]
Special needs dentist? So far, so good. And from the website:
Call Now...You're conversation will always be with Dr. Minsky!! The phone call with Dr. Minsky is free...Each patients needs are important. That's why Dr. Minsky is the only person you will speak with. When you call, Dr. Minsky can answer your questions about insurance, treatment, and cost. You won't be frustrated, angry, or wasting your time calling the office!
Dr. Minsky listens to his patients and knows how frustrating it can be making endless calls hoping to find a dentist who will treat someone with special needs.
Wow, sounds like a lock. Let's check out his Yelp reviews:
[out-of-date link removed]
Not many reviews, but all five-star. This could be the one. Let's just do a final Google search... Uh-oh:
[out-of-date link removed]
[out-of-date link removed]
[out-of-date link removed]
So what the heck am I supposed to believe? How can I possibly trust anyone enough to put my severely phobic wife's mouth in their hands? I knew this was going to be difficult but there seems to be a lot more to worry about than I imagined.