If you can't afford dental insurance, do you think the dentist should give you a small discount?

If you don't have dental insurance, tell me how you can ask the dentist for a small discount or if he should give you a discount.

If you can't afford dental insurance, do you think the dentist should give you a small discount?
Hey Jewel,


I am a dentist and if a person pays for the service in full on the same day I render it I will give them an 8% discount (Only 4% with a credit card as I have to pay the 3-4% for credit cards used in my office). I don't do this for insurance patients because I have to collect the insurance payment directly from the insurance company and that takes a couple of weeks so I don't receive payment the same day. One person suggested Care Credit for financing treatment and that it a great suggestion. I don't work with Care Credit but I work with the Dental Fee Plan through Capital One which is very similar and I'm sure your dentist has some institution he or she works with- just ask them. I don't consider it tacky when a patient asks for a discount as long as they do it tactfully. Just say something like "Do you have a discount for cash patients?" Believe me cash patients are my favorite patients. Insurance companies are a pain in the butt to deal with and I have to take a discount when working with them, so I sure don't mind to do it for my cash paying patients. BUT...I DON'T GIVE THEM A CASH DISOUNT UNLESS THEY ASK FOR IT.


Dr. R.
Reply:http://www.mybenefitsplus.com/...





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Reply:nope


if u can afford something u should not buy it
Reply:if you don't have dental insurance you can sit down and discuss this with your dentist. chances are they won't give you a discount but many have affordable payment plans or something called a 'sliding pay scale'. both of which make it easier for someone of lesser means to afford the dental care.
Reply:I don't think that they have to but I do appreciate when they do.





Just ask if they have discounts for non insurance holders; mine gives me a discount but then I go to him because we are friends. Before I went to my friend I went to a dentist that gave discounts to non insurance holders.





Open and honest.





You are not asking for free work. Just a discount, lots of different places will give a discount if you ask. Do you get mad at people for negotiating the price of a car?
Reply:you can get adiscount dental card online, only 35 dollars save alot of money.
Reply:Dentists are in business to make money too. I would never dream of asking a dentist for a discount unless I had been going to that dentist for a long time and had built up a rapport, a relationship with them. And even then, I believe I might be too embarrassed to ask.
Reply:You should not get a discount. Try going to a dental school, they do work for cheap and sometimes free.
Reply:my dentist did for me, my insurance ran out for the year and i needed 2 rootcanals and 3 wisdom teeth pulled he said dont even worry about it, he did it for free! you can ask by saying i dont have any insurance is it alright to make payments then he might give you a deal and ask what you can afford. good luck
Reply:Usually if you have to ask, they aren't kind hearted enough to do anyway. You need to ask around. My friend's dentist always gives her a discount because he knows she's a single mom. Just find out who the jerks are and the nice guys are before you go.
Reply:No. If I can't afford food I would never ask Safeway for free food.
Reply:Sadly, they probably aren't going to give you a discount. Billion dollar insurance companies however, DO get a discount. Go figure. If you need to have the dental work done, try setting up a payment plan. It would at least make it a little more managable.
Reply:A lot of dentists will give you a discout. Just ask them if they have special rates for uninsured patients. I do have dental insurance and can tell you that for the most part its a crock. I just started using a company called CareCredit that helps finance dental work. You can get a line of credit from that will allow you to get what you need done and pay it over a couple years if needed. They also will show you dentists in your area that accept that payment option. It's worked well for me considering without it I wouldn't have been able to have dental work done even with the insurance! What a joke it is.
Reply:Actually,just by not carrying dental insurance,you are already getting a discount. Most dentists compensate by charging patients who do have insurance more than someone without insurance. They actually charge the insurance I should say,not the patient. Most insurances work this way. They have to compensate for the loss somewhere and it ends up costing the person who can afford insurance more because the premiums go up or the deductibles cost more.
Reply:Lots of misleading information posted here!





Dental insurance works in several different ways:





PPO, or participating providers - the dentist agrees to discount their regular fees in exchange for belonging to a Network. This "feeds" a certain number of patients into the practice, but the dentist gives up some of what he/she would usually charge.





HMO, or health managed care - the dental office accepts a certain monthly $$ amount per patient. The patient then can get certain procedures done at NO cost and the dentist can't charge any more from the patient. Of course, if the doctor is only getting a set amount, he/she isn't going to to the best, most expensive, or most time consuming work.





Fee for service: the dentist charges everybody the same amount and collects from insurance for those patients who have it. The patient is responsible for the bill regardless.








Most dentists charge what they think is fair based on what it costs to deliver the care plus enough of a markup to pay the staff, maintain the equipment, and take continuing education courses. It takes more time and money to give the best quality care.





If a person does not have insurance, sometimes a "bookkeepping courtesy" is given of 5 to 15%. This is because the dentist doesn't have to wait 30 to 60 days for the insurance to pay, doesn't have to hassle with the forms, etc. This is if you pay your bill IN FULL at the time of service.





Most dentists I know are nice people and take pity on the truly needy - old people, disabled, single moms, etc. People who just want stuff for cheap don't get the same break and I don't think they should.
Reply:If you can't afford health insurance, should the cardiovascular/transplant surgeon give you a small discount?





I perform a lot of work without charging a fee. I am happy to extract teeth, perform exams, take x-rays, etc., without charging for them if I feel that the patient is truly in need.





Dentistry, as a profession, sucks. It's often times difficult work, and patients typically hate us for doing what we are supposed to be doing--taking care of their oral health. Not a single day goes by where I have a patient I have never seen before convey to me in some form their hatred of dentists. We don't get the same respect as physicians do, despite the fact that our education and service to the community are very comparable, and public perception of dentists is generally negative (can you think of ANY television program or movie where dentists were cast as even-keeled professionals?)





We practice dentistry because we genuinely want to help. And that attitude pervades into our daily routine. You may not realize it, but there are things for which your dentist could justifiably bill you but hasn't.





I'm perfectly ok with doing things for free. But when patients come along and use the word "should" with regard to discounts, I find it extremely belittling to what we do, and absolutely inappropriate. We are doctors, not hair stylists.

Beauty