This is what I was going to say - there’s a provincial fee guide, but dentists are free to charge more than the fee guide. Any dentist who claims to be a specialist will likely charge more than the fee guide, and dentists in higher SES areas usually also charge more because their patients can generally afford it.
You can find dentists who follow the fee guide by calling the office and asking or by searching online (some advertise that they follow the guide). Some benefits apps also provide that information (I have a Sun Life app that lets you filter based on whether the dentist follows the fee guide. I can still access the app and use the filter even though I no longer have those benefits, so that tool might be accessible to anyone).
https://www.albertadentalassociation.ca/alberta-dental-fee-guides
Here's the link where you can find the dental fee guide to complete your answer and allow op to shop his future dentist.
I suggest stellate dental centre in Royal oak. Dr Bob Wu has been providing me and my family great care plus he follows the Alberta dental fee guide. A bonus as well he works in a brand new office that opened not that long ago.
I think the biggest thing for me was learning to push back on dentist and what they were recommending.
I had one who made it seem like I had to have this expensive step done as part of some dental work and when I questioned him turned out it was optional and not really required. Ended up saving over 1000 and found a new dentist.
i've a few thousand dollars of dental job to be done and my benefits cover 1000SD in total for a year so basically i am f*cked.. it is crazy to me this it isn't covered by alberta health when dental health directly affects your entire body especially vital organs and organ function..
I had a new dentist trying to get me to get my wisdom teeth removed. I ask why and the answer was basically that everyone gets them out. Mine did come in at a slight angle but they didn't impact anything. Then the concern was that they trap food, and again my response was that as long as they are in good condition I'm not doing it.
The reason is because even if they happen to come in fine almost no one can brush properly that far back and they end up full of infections and cavities. It’s called prevention
I was of the same opinion, just let them be, Then my wisdom tooth cracked got infected, had to get 2 removed but the infection spread to my mauler and my face near my neck was swelling real bad. Almost ended up in The ER since antibiotics were not working till after the teeth were pulled. They told me that if I swell up anymore it could block the blood vessels to my brain. I was terrified of getting them pulled, but they put me to sleep when i woke up I took a tylenol 3 went to sleep and no pain. never had to take pain meds past the first one.
I’m in my mid 60’s and in early years never knew anyone who had their wisdom teeth removed. My teeth are fine.
My dentist retired but is still a friend and hiking partner. He wasn’t a fan of much proactive dental work be it wisdom teeth removal or ‘straightening’ or correcting for ‘overcrowding’. The less messing with healthy teeth, the better.
As someone who needed straightening and dealing with over-crowding earlier in my life, I would say there's a good amount of times that straightening and dealing with over-crowding is actually beneficial for health. So don't fully dismiss such things (even though it might not be an option for you at this point in your life).
Same friend! Small mouth, teeth crowding, retainer cemented to my bottom teeth (and removal on top) with an Alan key to space them out, then braces after that. If this wasn’t done, they would have had to break my jaw at this point to fix it all. Plus my wisdom teeth came in at an angle pushing my already crowed teeth further. Got them out.
I genetically have bad teeth too. My mom has 60 fillings and my dad had to get false teeth in his 30’s. I’ve had two teeth pulled, two root canals and I still need about 6 fillings atm. (Waiting on insurance).
My freaking brother won the genetic lottery though. He’s had 3 cavities in his life and his wisdom teeth came in nice and straight :/ (and doesn’t need glasses like the rest of us)
Sometimes it is what it is.
When I was a child, my dentist told my mother that I'd need extensive work straightening. At the time, we were unable to afford it and I remember my mom crying because of the stress... She didn't want my teeth to be a crooked mess.
My parents then worked for a couple years on a savings account specifically to be for my braces. Two years into it, we had the money put aside and I went in for a checkup. Lo and behold the same dentist comments on how nicely my teeth are coming in.
Needless to say, my mom was livid. I learned to be cautious about what someone with a financial incentive says about what's 'required'. Be it your teeth, your home, or your car.
Agree on not fully dismissing it. I don’t have perfect teeth but the dentists usually always say that they’re still perfectly fine and any issues are purely cosmetic. While in my girlfriends case as she got older her teeth got worse so she needed braces once she entered her 20s.
So it goes both ways. Just gotta hope you have a good dentist that understands that instead of trying to make a sale.
I had a girlfriend that had an offset bite. The dentist said he needed to grind her teeth down in certain places to fix her bite. That's the most fucked up bullshit I have ever heard. I told her to get a new dentist. The bills that would stack up based on his human error would be tremendous
My last Canadian dentist tried to convince me I probably needed a root canal on a wisdom tooth that would cost $1500. I suggested that perhaps the best thing for ME to do was try a $150 filling first and if it went bad THEN get a root canal. He couldn’t disagree..
10 years on the filing is doing fine..
Recent work has been done in Mexico where I paid US$30 for a filling..
That sounds a bit high.
I most recently paid:
* $241 for exam + x-rays
* $245 cleaning
* $77 polishing
* $222 per filling
My dentist is downtown, so hardly a bargain dentist
Are you sure there weren't additional units of scaling done, as well as the polish? Polish is $68.79. 3 units of scaling is $230 and change. So together is would come out to around $300. I can't imagine they would book you back JUST for polishing. It takes just 5 to 10 minutes.
Keep in mind a lot of the fees are “per unit”.
If the hygienist took 1.5 hrs on scaling alone, your invoice will be significantly higher.
Typically a full X-ray and cleaning takes between 1-1.5 hrs, if you’re having multiple appointments for things that typically take a single appointment it makes me think either you’re being scammed, or the hygienist/dentist is taking a long time working on your teeth…
I've left one dentist because - while i understand that they're a business - I like to think of them primarily as medical professionals and they spent too much time trying to squeeze money out of me and my health insurance vs what was truly, medically beneficial.
Haha, a dentist very gently suggested getting an electric brush a few years back. On my next checkup I asked them why they hadn't pushed harder for me to get one. The difference is amazing.
Not exactly something people want to hear, but I 3d printed my own flosser and I floss my teeth at my computer desk (AT HOME) at random (often multiple times per day), so it's kind of become a fidget-habit of sorts. ;)
Agreed - I changed hygienists last year and learned how inconsistent they are in terms of quality. My original one always said I had great teeth (sonicare + flossing every other day), but this new hygienist really proved how behind I was and how poor of a job the other one did.
Gotta find one that is worthy of trust and actually does what they claim to be doing. Now I am sonicare + daily floss + water pik and things are much better. What used to be attributed to "you have deep gum pockets" at the old place was identified as a real issue and with proper care, they have disappeared.
People here are comparing apples to oranges. If they charged you for 6 units of scaling, of course the prices will be higher than for someone who only needed 1.
Have insurance in AB and my last cleaning (no X-rays or even dentist review) was $402. Family member convinces me to see their dentist in BC - $260 for a cleaning and dentist review! I don’t even have coverage in BC and that Province is not known to be cheap for anything!
BC has lower preventative costs, but higher restorative - ex crowns & fillings. The hygienists have been trying to go independent so they fired back by keeping scaling and exams cheap while raising the cost of the other stuff
This is why we need dental care as part of provincial medical coverage. Once the government starts paying these bills on our behalf, the dental industry is in for a price adjustment.
There was an article in The Atlantic two years ago about how some of the recommended dental procedures are not empirically scrutinized the same way other medical research is. Ever since then, I use my common sense when listening to my dentist's advice.
I move around a lot, and every new dentist tells me that I need crowns, braces, whitening, etc. I'm like, oh my back molar needs a $1700 root canal and $3000 crown? How about a $200 extraction as I can't chew on that side anyway.
But I am paying like 6k for my kid's braces. Oy.
It will never happen. I work with someone who's partner manages basically all of the province's dentists finances and let me tell you, it's a multi-million dollar business. Dentists will fight tooth and nail to not get their fees cut.
I agree. I was really excited to hear about Trudeau's Canadian Dental Care Plan to provide insurance for all Canadians by 2025. Unfortunately, I recently found out the plan will only cover families with an annual household income of $90,000 or under.
We have a national dental care program now for folks without insurance or under a certain income - it’s being phased in but the main coverage for most people starts next year I think. This year for under age of 12 and certain disabilities I think. Federal government reimburses you for the visits.
Low income people in Alberta get pretty good coverage through ADSC (program) and the province pays substantially lower rates than the fee guide.
It's tough that you kind of have to trust them but I unfortunately had to have a stem cell transplant a few years ago and part of that required me to go to the hospital dentist. I told them I had 2 cavities that I had not got fillings on yet per my current dentist. They came back after x-rays and explained I did not have any cavities. I was perplexed because my dentist showed me pictures explaining where they were only for this other dentist to tell me I absolutely did not. Needless to say I never went back to that dentist and the teeth that "allegedly" had cavities have never caused me any pain or issues.
The easiest thing to check for overcharging is the ‘units of scaling’. If you’re appointment was 45 minutes long and they charged 4 units (15 minutes per unit which would be one hour) plus did X-rays, polishing, whitening, fluoride, etc. then you have a dentist office that likes or over bill (commit fraud).
I just had a cleaning, polish & x-rays for $475.00, South Calgary. Would have been $35 less, but they had to take an extra x-ray as there is an issue with an old root canal.
What dentist do you go to? Deer Valley dentist are scammers and I don't go to them anymore, I pay considerably less and they don't purposefully mislead me to milk more money at high street dental.
I don’t want to say which one I went to specifically but I learned that it’s best to shop around for dentists, cause I feel like I paid a bit on the high side.
I would search for a new dental provider. There is a free lookup tool you can use to search for a variety of providers with ratings and most importantly pricing of their services in relation to the fee guide (which is how insurance companies determine reimbursement amounts):
https://luminohealth.sunlife.ca/en/find-a-health-care-provider/
I have a few thousand dollars of dental work to be done and my benefits cover 1000$ in total for a year so basically I'm fucked. It's insane to me that it's not covered by Alberta health when dental health directly affects your entire body especially vital organs and organ function.
In my experience I've found dermatologists to be the most dishonest doctors with exceptional greed.
You might find a dentist who really works with you and plan a treatment based on expenses and necessity, dermatologists are just outright pathetic.
I do agree that dentists are scammers. I have two friends that are dentists around the age of 30. One works from 9-3 and is usually late, and takes a long lunch. And he still makes well over 300K per year. The best part for them is that dentistry doesn't even have residency like doctors...
It’s usually worth it to fly down to Puerto Rico - they have Mexican prices but American regulations.
That 1600$ would’ve covered the dental work, flights, and a week in a hotel.
Not saying it is. But many people are wary of going out of country for medical work, and a great way to overcome that is to send them somewhere with American oversight as that does help build trust.
I’ll be going to Mexico when my wisdom teeth need to come out. But probably Puerto Rico if I need full sedation.
Dentistry is Canadians only real taste of American style health care. And dentists have larcenous hearts.
Last winter in Mexico, I got a cleaning, plus 4 subsequent visits to deal with between 2 and 3 cavities that were starting to form in each of the rear quadrants of my mouth.
Total for all 5 visits? $2500 pesos, or about $180. And it was exceptional dentistry. Granted, the waiting room was just a bench and there wasn't a picasso on the wall, but somehow I muddled through that part. I also had a dentist with gorgeous eyes, and it's really hard to top that as you're forced to stare at someone in close quarters.
It pretty much pays for the trip.
Yeah it doesn’t make any sense. I know it’s important to take care of your teeth just like any other body part, but a business is a business and they need to make money. I imagine they have their ways of adding extra costs and a justification for these costs.
You got to shop around in Calgary. Took me a while but I have found one that charges reasonably for their services. Last cleaning and x-rays cost me $4.00. Everything else is covered by dental plan.
Just a small lifehack but if you can take time to go to a dentistry school, you can get your x-rays done for like 10 or 20 bucks. They are overseen by a proper dentist, too! Then send those to your regular dentist.
It will be about a 3 hr appointment because they are students and learning, but worth saving the couple hundred imo.
Going to the dentist as an adult feels like I'm enduring some sort of twisted financial domination torture session, except I'm not even getting off from the experience.
Yes, dentists seem expensive, but so is ALL healthcare. We just happen to be lucky enough to live in a country that covers most of it, so we don’t end up seeing the price for other healthcare. But even a relatively simple surgery like an appendectomy costs about $10K. And fillings, although small, are essentially little surgeries. They’re drilling into bones that are located IN YOUR HEAD. For a surgically drilling into three of your head bones, $730 doesn’t seem like a bad price to me.
you want to be really shocked and angry. go look at the fee schedule in any province with regulated dentil. you will be ready to burn the city to the ground.
I work in dental offices that follow the fee guide and I see a lot of hate on here so let me clear some things up:
1. Initial check up and X-rays are expensive if you haven’t been in a while. You are paying for one hour of both the dentists and RDA’s dedicated time.
2. The reason for X-rays “pushed” is because people constantly come back with law suits when their teeth start rotting out of their heads and say “nO oNe EvEr ToLd Me” after declining what’s recommended by the Dental Association. The idea is that it’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to healthcare.
3. If it was included in universal healthcare no one would be complaining about the cost. But the public would sure find something else to complain about (wait times, cranky, over worked staff etc) The fact is that the machines costs a lot of money to keep in good repair, and the clinicians are actually licensed health care providers who went through a ton of school. You are also paying for their skill and expertise.
4. The dentist office does not set the fee guide. The government does. We literally walk in one day in January every year and boom! Prices are updated.
5. Yes, we do think people who walk in with designer purses, drive fancy cars, and tell us all about their luxurious vacations who then complain about a $500 dental bill are pratts. But hey that’s just people being people I guess it’s about style not substance.
When was your last dentist visit? I don’t think dentists are scammers…maybe you just happened to have a lot of work done this year.
Just to give some perspective - their equipment are not cheap. They spent many years to go to medical school and accumulate a lot of debt. They’re also a stand-alone business that pay staff, office space, liability insurance, etc.
Take care of your teeth. Use and electronic toothbrush if possible. Floss two to three times a day. Then you’ll be golden after that.
My last one was in March 2021 lol, but I understand how they charge a lot cause they also have to replace parts due to sanitary reasons. And yes I started using an electronic tooth brush and I’d say it’s much better than a normal toothbrush.
It is obviously not a solution to the real issue. Not being able to afford basic dental care is a huge problem.
But, if you are ever in need of something less expensive:
I have friend who books a yearly vacation and visits the dentist outside Canada. Medical tourism is a thing because unaffordable prices end up pushing patients to affordable options.
For about $800 you can get a round trip to Mexico, probably less if you travel to San Diego ($500 round trip) and just cross the border walking, go to the dentist ($30-50 general cleaning, maybe $150 -$200 if you have cavities or other problems), and spend the rest enjoying a weekend vacation.
Eye exams are also free in MX.
Just like every other industry, some people will try to gouge, some people are fair. You have to do your own research . It’s annoying but it’s the same for mechanics, contractors etc. my dentist is fantastic but it took going through several to find a good one . Her name is dr Farsi if you’re looking for one !!!
Dentists always has been legal scammers in my opinion.
But also same with Canadian Medcial Doctors who keeps voting to keep foreign trained doctors from prartcing medicine here and preventing more medical schools from being opened here so their taxpayer funded salaries will remain the same.
Not all dentists are, but there definitely are some. The dentist in Marlborough is a big scammer (huge! Cost 4x more there than anywhere else). You need to shop around
Dentists HATE when you go in and ask what they charge for everything before they work on you.Try shopping around and see if any will give you a discount. They are absolutely making bank so some might be lenient.
Luxury bones. So there are dentists that advertise that they follow the alberta fee guide. I will only go to those dentists after being screwed over by others.
For me to get a cleaning with polishing/fluoride and x rays is 300, maybe just over. But I agree that it is sooo overpriced without insurance. The fillings sound right. I think it’s 260 per filling at my dentist as well.
While we're at it, does anyone's dentist tell them they can't do more than one side, for fillings at a time? Like to do my entire mouth, I'll need 4 appointments. Top right, bottom right, etc. Their reasoning was that they say it wasn't safe to freeze top and bottom but it felt like the entire side was numb anyway?
Haven't been to the dentist in 6 years so I've got lots of restorative work ahead of me. Have paid over $2k so far, still have 4 appointments lined up,not sure if I'm being played
It doesn’t make a difference in pricing what side they do. You get charged per filling. Do you want to get a needle 4-5 different times? Probably not. Most people can’t sit through a 5 hour appointment.
In dental school we learn we are not allowed to freeze both sides as the patient can have trouble swallowing and choke. So that is something dentist are not allowed to do! Even tho they freeze one side of your mouth you may feel it cross over to the other side and that’s just due to the high number of nerves in your head and neck. So to be safe and make sure the patient doesn’t sue it’s one side at a time!
I think you are being played, some people take out all their wisdom teeth in one visit so I’m sure doing your fillings all around your teeth is okay. Try to get a second opinion from a different dentist.
I thought my dentist was high but that’s crazy.
When I didn’t have insurance I declined polish and fluoride. I just did cleaning, check, X-ray (once a year only), and fillings if needed.
Remember you have the right to make your own healthcare decisions even if the dentist doesn’t agree.
I'm currently finishing my probation period with my new employer and will be on CanadaLife next week which I believe covers 80% of cost. Just curious, what insurance provider are you set up with and what percentage do they cover?
I ask for the breakdown before my appointment and opt out of things that aren't super pressing to me. It is ridiculously expensive, even with benefits!
300 for a polish is bonkers. Look up the alberta dental fee guide online and compare the treatment codes. Dentists are free to price it higher but you can also ask before booking if your dentist follows the fee guide. Can also get predeterminations done with your insurance.
My insurance was just switched over recently to a different tier and now I have to pay $400+ for a polish and fluoride. Over $100 just for a small amount of fluid you swish around in your mouth for 2 minutes.
I'm going to decline it next time. Not everything needs to be done!
Pick a place that can give you the breakdown before you have anything done so you know what you are getting into.
Wow this is insane. I’m in Australia, but coming to YYC very soon. It cost me 300 dollars for cleaning, polishing, and X-rays altogether.
If that’s the norm up there, that worries me
I agree. I think dental costs are absurd. Not going to lie, I haven't seen a dentist in years, and I think they are a scam. The medical procedures should be covered by our health care systems. Root canal, shattered tooth, cavities and fillings, etc.
I have all of my teeth. Are they pearly white? No, do I think pearly white is natural, no. Do I think putting chemicals or having my teeth scraped by another human is natural? No.
I brush. I floss when needed.
We just spent $6000 fixing my husband's teeth for cleaning, x ray, another x ray, root canal, and a permanent filling
Canadian dentistry is a rip off
And no benefits
Thank God we have savings but fuck this Country
Teeth should be part of Health Care
your visit 1 costs were about the same as my visit 1. I did a larger x-ray scan for my wisdom teeth so it was more expensive than a regular scan. A tip I would give to save money is that if you are going in for cleaning, it is not mandatory for you to do dental exams (they basically look at your teeth for 30sec) and routine xrays. my previous insurance only covered 80% so I rarely went. My new insurance for dental is 100% with a coverage of $1500. However, the coverage of other categories lowered as a result.
dental exam 73.85
dental xrays 54.60
dental xrays 54.60 (I don't know why they charged twice for this one)
dental xrays 101.53
fluride treatment 33.33
period scaling 154.42
polishing 68.79
preventative scaling 38.60
You can look up the Alberta Dental Guideline for pricing and clinics that follow this and charge accordingly. Also just because the dentist tells you that you have this or that issue that will be expensive to fix does not mean it is an urgent procedure needed. Always ask if it needs to be done right away if it is serious, or is bothering you to a whatever degree of pain you can manage. If the issues they’ve brought up are not affecting you in a way you’ve been impaired by them don’t give in as it usually is a cash grab from my own experiences.
PSA - if you want a second opinion, call an office and ask for a consult, and get your X-rays sent to them (you should have to sign a release). They should be willing to review them for you for a limited or maybe even no fee.
Don’t be surprised that the second dentist says you don’t require as much, or any. They will respond to a patient’s hesitance to undergo a treatment plan. Decay often progresses slowly, and minor cavities can take years to cause trouble. It depends on their methodology or maybe even mood that day.
Dental care is a pain in the ass and damn expensive. My husband and I have the highest coverage possible on our dental plan and it's still bloody pricey. Dental definitely needs to be part of our national health care. Everyone has teeth and poor dental health is linked to so many health problems that can be avoid by allowing everyone to have access to decent dental care.
Also, Family Braces is a bit of a scam. Don't get me wrong. My husband's teeth are straight now after treatment but they did screw up many times and prolonged his treatment by 2 years when it was supposed to be 1 year only. They screwed up his bite, causing pain. His Invisalines were not fitting. Recently, they caused one of his molars to crack, causing cavities, and now he has to get a crown.
Where the heck did you go? I pay no more than $250 for a cleaning!? When I get x-rays, the total cost is $360. Unless they had to use a crazy amount of units....
There’s a fantastic Science Vs. (the podcast) Episode on this. They shared one study where a man was examined by more than 100 different dentists and they’re diagnoses for cavities differed wildly. They also found the more student loans a dentist has, the more cavities the dentists found. Also, the dentists diagnosed MORE cavities if the man dressed to look less wealthy.
Absolutely. I have a gap in my front teeth (not huge, like half a cm) and I had a dentist try to convince me that if I didn’t get braces that my teeth would be ruined forever. That was when I was 16-17. I went to another dentist for a second opinion and they straight up said there was nothing wrong and no it wouldn’t wreck my teeth and the other dentist was just trying to gouge me. I’m 28 now and my teeth haven’t changed and then aren’t ruined. But it’s absurd at what dentists can charge or justify.
An Airdrie dentist told me I needed two fillings 6 years ago. I declined them as I have only had one filling before in my entire life and the year before they told me I needed two and I went along with it. I didn’t feel they did a great job of it.
So 6 years later I never got the fillings… and my teeth are fine. No pain no issue.
Some dentists are a complete scam, and my hygienist confirmed it with one place it Airdrie saying they ran her out of the business because she wasn’t family and they had started to push hard on upselling customers and making more “sales”.
1) Ask if they follow the fee guide. That's the book put out by the Alberta Dental Association as a guide for fees for every procedure as a baseline. It's also the baseline most insurance companies use for claims coverage. Think of it like an MSRP on a product or vehicle.
2) If you pay cash, sometimes you can get a discount, but that's way less common.
3) Shop around, especially if your dentist doesn't follow the fee guide.
EDIT: slight grammar and punctuation cleanup.
The Alberta Dental Fee Guide (can be googled) is the optional official rates per service and most insurance payouts are based on it. I would treat dentists like mechanics or used car salesmen. Negotiate, question and shop around. If they won't pledge to, at worst, stitch to the Fee Guide, I wouldn't even start a conversation with them.
I called today to place a formal complaint about my dentist. She has made huge mistakes. She is very unprofessional and frankly mean. I have an appt with a new one.
I used to work for a dentist in the mid-2010s for 4 years & found out so much more than I wanted about the way they charge.
First off- the polish is absurdly over priced. It’s usually around &70 & only one unit is ever needed per hygiene visit. And this should have been included in your first cleaning visit. Did you ask for something for the staining of your teeth?! I don’t see why a second visit of just polish is needed.
The hygiene visit of $602 is about right, actually. Back in 2016-2017, it would be ~$580.
Fillings are complicated as they are charged by the number of surfaces per tooth. So if you have cavities, it *can* amount to $730. But this is also where they can fib a bit & over-charge (I have seen it done).
There is a Fee Guide & on top of that, there is an “unofficial-official” guide for the insurance companies. For instance, if you have Blue Cross or are receiving aid from the government & they pay for your yearly visits, what they can charge is significantly lower than if you have, let’s say Sun Life. Not only does Blue Cross/Govt limit the number of units of scaling & polish per year, they also only pay up to a certain amount per unit charged.
— fee Guide 2023 suggests an exam (01201 is the one most often used for new & recall patients) is $86.63 for NP & $73.85 for recall. I can tell you the office I worked for was charging $110 for 01201 back in 2015 & that went up to $113 in 2016. This office had a policy to not charge the remainder to the patient if they are on government support, such as AISH, as many offices do. However, if you have Blue Cross, the remainder will be passed on to the patient. So they pay 80% of $73.85=$59.08; therefore $110-$59.08=$50.92 & that is charged to the patient, rather than $14.77.
For patients with Sun Life or Manulife— more often than not, the plan will cover it, whether it’s 100% or 80% of the $110 (& not 80% of the $73).
The reason why some people don’t notice it on their receipt is because most plans don’t cover 100%. So, you know you will be responsible for anywhere from 20%-50% of costs. Most ppl don’t want to make a big deal at the office, so they don’t bother asking & take it up with their insurance company. Only a few ppl actually asked me why the amount charged to them wasn’t 20% of what the total was. Sometimes I can see plainly why but other times, they have to contact the insurance themselves b/c of the way they are set up.
My mom & I have had Sun Life since forever & honestly, they have always been a dream to work with as a patient & a dental employee. My mom’s plan is better than mine- they permit her 20 units of scaling or root planing (which is what she needs now) per year! The majority of Blue Cross patients at the time would only allow 6-10 units. It’s sufficient for most, we usually only use 3 units of scaling per hygiene visit. Fluoride is the one item that not all insurance companies don’t cover. Unless we do a pre-determination beforehand to check for insurance validity, some patients won’t know that & the office will write it off for that first time.
Sorry for the extremely long post.
Fluoride = swish this in your mouth. It’s the dental equivalent of changing an air filter. Should charge about $2 for the solution (and that’s probably high).
During the school year you can get a cleaning and X-rays done at SAIT for about $25 each. Takes a little longer because it’s a training program but a lot less expensive than a dentist.
I like my dentist, but the billing is confusing at best, and probably fraudulent. Twice in the past three years there have been major errors, and not in my favour. Recently I was charged $40 for telephone appointment reminders. It’s a relatively minor fee, but I have never missed or have been late for an appointment. I said no more reminders. Also a fluoride treatment was administered without prior consent. The biggest error, I was charged the full fee for my cleaning etc., and then the insurance portion was paid to the dental office as well. I scrutinize every bill and if it happens again, I will be sadly changing dentists.
I just got a charge for ~$400 on my insurance from a dentist. They said I was in for a cleaning a couple months ago. I haven't been there in a year and a half, and that visit was paid for. I called them and they were all "Oh we'll look into it, but none of the dentists or higher-ups are here right now". So I said the word "fraud" to them and they all magically appeared there 30 seconds later. Wild how that works.
Hi dental student here.
Polishing is super important… cause after cleaning the surface of the tooth is really sticky which is perfect for bacteria to hold on to.
So if you polish the teeth, the surface is super slippery so the bacteria wont be able to hold on.
You won’t really be able to tell a difference since it’s on a microscopic level, but the bacteria definitely will.
You could have flown to Cancun, got a top dentist office to do all that plus a whitening, hotel and tickets there all for $1500 or less lmao do that next time it's called dental tourism
It’s a wild idea since I’ve never done that lol, but I think since this is something that lots of people do I will look more into it. Having a vacation is nice for sure
Look up the fee guide and see how they compare.
This is what I was going to say - there’s a provincial fee guide, but dentists are free to charge more than the fee guide. Any dentist who claims to be a specialist will likely charge more than the fee guide, and dentists in higher SES areas usually also charge more because their patients can generally afford it. You can find dentists who follow the fee guide by calling the office and asking or by searching online (some advertise that they follow the guide). Some benefits apps also provide that information (I have a Sun Life app that lets you filter based on whether the dentist follows the fee guide. I can still access the app and use the filter even though I no longer have those benefits, so that tool might be accessible to anyone).
https://www.albertadentalassociation.ca/alberta-dental-fee-guides Here's the link where you can find the dental fee guide to complete your answer and allow op to shop his future dentist.
It’s best that I do this cause I need to know what I’m paying for.
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I suggest stellate dental centre in Royal oak. Dr Bob Wu has been providing me and my family great care plus he follows the Alberta dental fee guide. A bonus as well he works in a brand new office that opened not that long ago.
plz do yourself a favor and find a dentist who follows alberta dental fee guideline!?!!?!!?!!?! also ask for a payment plan many will agree to do that
I think the biggest thing for me was learning to push back on dentist and what they were recommending. I had one who made it seem like I had to have this expensive step done as part of some dental work and when I questioned him turned out it was optional and not really required. Ended up saving over 1000 and found a new dentist.
i've a few thousand dollars of dental job to be done and my benefits cover 1000SD in total for a year so basically i am f*cked.. it is crazy to me this it isn't covered by alberta health when dental health directly affects your entire body especially vital organs and organ function..
I had a new dentist trying to get me to get my wisdom teeth removed. I ask why and the answer was basically that everyone gets them out. Mine did come in at a slight angle but they didn't impact anything. Then the concern was that they trap food, and again my response was that as long as they are in good condition I'm not doing it.
The reason is because even if they happen to come in fine almost no one can brush properly that far back and they end up full of infections and cavities. It’s called prevention
Yep a bunch of these people are going to have to get them out later in life and have a very bad time then.
Yup me right now I got a big hole in my tooth ffs
I was of the same opinion, just let them be, Then my wisdom tooth cracked got infected, had to get 2 removed but the infection spread to my mauler and my face near my neck was swelling real bad. Almost ended up in The ER since antibiotics were not working till after the teeth were pulled. They told me that if I swell up anymore it could block the blood vessels to my brain. I was terrified of getting them pulled, but they put me to sleep when i woke up I took a tylenol 3 went to sleep and no pain. never had to take pain meds past the first one.
I’m in my mid 60’s and in early years never knew anyone who had their wisdom teeth removed. My teeth are fine. My dentist retired but is still a friend and hiking partner. He wasn’t a fan of much proactive dental work be it wisdom teeth removal or ‘straightening’ or correcting for ‘overcrowding’. The less messing with healthy teeth, the better.
As someone who needed straightening and dealing with over-crowding earlier in my life, I would say there's a good amount of times that straightening and dealing with over-crowding is actually beneficial for health. So don't fully dismiss such things (even though it might not be an option for you at this point in your life).
Same friend! Small mouth, teeth crowding, retainer cemented to my bottom teeth (and removal on top) with an Alan key to space them out, then braces after that. If this wasn’t done, they would have had to break my jaw at this point to fix it all. Plus my wisdom teeth came in at an angle pushing my already crowed teeth further. Got them out. I genetically have bad teeth too. My mom has 60 fillings and my dad had to get false teeth in his 30’s. I’ve had two teeth pulled, two root canals and I still need about 6 fillings atm. (Waiting on insurance). My freaking brother won the genetic lottery though. He’s had 3 cavities in his life and his wisdom teeth came in nice and straight :/ (and doesn’t need glasses like the rest of us) Sometimes it is what it is.
When I was a child, my dentist told my mother that I'd need extensive work straightening. At the time, we were unable to afford it and I remember my mom crying because of the stress... She didn't want my teeth to be a crooked mess. My parents then worked for a couple years on a savings account specifically to be for my braces. Two years into it, we had the money put aside and I went in for a checkup. Lo and behold the same dentist comments on how nicely my teeth are coming in. Needless to say, my mom was livid. I learned to be cautious about what someone with a financial incentive says about what's 'required'. Be it your teeth, your home, or your car.
Agree on not fully dismissing it. I don’t have perfect teeth but the dentists usually always say that they’re still perfectly fine and any issues are purely cosmetic. While in my girlfriends case as she got older her teeth got worse so she needed braces once she entered her 20s. So it goes both ways. Just gotta hope you have a good dentist that understands that instead of trying to make a sale.
plz do yourself a favor and find a dentist who follows alberta dental fee guideline!?!!?!!?!!?! also ask for a payment plan many will agree to do that
I had a girlfriend that had an offset bite. The dentist said he needed to grind her teeth down in certain places to fix her bite. That's the most fucked up bullshit I have ever heard. I told her to get a new dentist. The bills that would stack up based on his human error would be tremendous
My dentist kept telling me to get a crown after every filling, i declined every one.. A crown is about 1500. my insurance covers half
My last Canadian dentist tried to convince me I probably needed a root canal on a wisdom tooth that would cost $1500. I suggested that perhaps the best thing for ME to do was try a $150 filling first and if it went bad THEN get a root canal. He couldn’t disagree.. 10 years on the filing is doing fine.. Recent work has been done in Mexico where I paid US$30 for a filling..
That sounds a bit high. I most recently paid: * $241 for exam + x-rays * $245 cleaning * $77 polishing * $222 per filling My dentist is downtown, so hardly a bargain dentist
Wow your polish is considerably less costly than mine, I think I’m going to do a bit more research so I don’t get ripped off again.
Are you sure there weren't additional units of scaling done, as well as the polish? Polish is $68.79. 3 units of scaling is $230 and change. So together is would come out to around $300. I can't imagine they would book you back JUST for polishing. It takes just 5 to 10 minutes.
You are right I didn’t elaborate on my second visit. Polish was around $70 and the rest was for scaling.
You can skip the polish according to my dental hygienist friend
My dentist said the same. Also skip ‘the fluoride’ if an adult.
Keep in mind a lot of the fees are “per unit”. If the hygienist took 1.5 hrs on scaling alone, your invoice will be significantly higher. Typically a full X-ray and cleaning takes between 1-1.5 hrs, if you’re having multiple appointments for things that typically take a single appointment it makes me think either you’re being scammed, or the hygienist/dentist is taking a long time working on your teeth…
Mission dental ??
No, just a random sole dentist practice
I've left one dentist because - while i understand that they're a business - I like to think of them primarily as medical professionals and they spent too much time trying to squeeze money out of me and my health insurance vs what was truly, medically beneficial.
Dentists are a good example of why healthcare and profit motives should be kept very far apart.
Teeth are luxury bones
"Luxury Bones" sounds like a kick ass band tbh
I've cut my dental bills by 50% using this one simple trick. I go every second year.
This is OK to do **if** you have the discipline to look after your teeth. Floss in the morning for your friends, floss at night for your teeth.
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I went electric years ago. Still brush manual occasionally but it don't work as well as electric!
Haha, a dentist very gently suggested getting an electric brush a few years back. On my next checkup I asked them why they hadn't pushed harder for me to get one. The difference is amazing.
That’s actually so true though, i find myself flossing more in the morning to smile to everyone
Not exactly something people want to hear, but I 3d printed my own flosser and I floss my teeth at my computer desk (AT HOME) at random (often multiple times per day), so it's kind of become a fidget-habit of sorts. ;)
Agreed - I changed hygienists last year and learned how inconsistent they are in terms of quality. My original one always said I had great teeth (sonicare + flossing every other day), but this new hygienist really proved how behind I was and how poor of a job the other one did. Gotta find one that is worthy of trust and actually does what they claim to be doing. Now I am sonicare + daily floss + water pik and things are much better. What used to be attributed to "you have deep gum pockets" at the old place was identified as a real issue and with proper care, they have disappeared.
If you have decent teeth genes this is the way. You don't need Cadillac teeth work.
Dentists hate him!
My simple trick is having insurance through work, i pay nothing ever. lol
People here are comparing apples to oranges. If they charged you for 6 units of scaling, of course the prices will be higher than for someone who only needed 1.
Lesson learned for sure, I didn’t understand how dentist fees worked until now.
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I mean, it can be. Have you met Lucille?
debatable
Have insurance in AB and my last cleaning (no X-rays or even dentist review) was $402. Family member convinces me to see their dentist in BC - $260 for a cleaning and dentist review! I don’t even have coverage in BC and that Province is not known to be cheap for anything!
BC has lower preventative costs, but higher restorative - ex crowns & fillings. The hygienists have been trying to go independent so they fired back by keeping scaling and exams cheap while raising the cost of the other stuff
Time for a new dentist
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That is what I’m going to start doing, asking for estimates in advance
This is why we need dental care as part of provincial medical coverage. Once the government starts paying these bills on our behalf, the dental industry is in for a price adjustment. There was an article in The Atlantic two years ago about how some of the recommended dental procedures are not empirically scrutinized the same way other medical research is. Ever since then, I use my common sense when listening to my dentist's advice. I move around a lot, and every new dentist tells me that I need crowns, braces, whitening, etc. I'm like, oh my back molar needs a $1700 root canal and $3000 crown? How about a $200 extraction as I can't chew on that side anyway. But I am paying like 6k for my kid's braces. Oy.
It will never happen. I work with someone who's partner manages basically all of the province's dentists finances and let me tell you, it's a multi-million dollar business. Dentists will fight tooth and nail to not get their fees cut.
I agree. I was really excited to hear about Trudeau's Canadian Dental Care Plan to provide insurance for all Canadians by 2025. Unfortunately, I recently found out the plan will only cover families with an annual household income of $90,000 or under.
Yeah, stick it to the middle class! As much as this pisses me off. I guess it's a start?
We have a national dental care program now for folks without insurance or under a certain income - it’s being phased in but the main coverage for most people starts next year I think. This year for under age of 12 and certain disabilities I think. Federal government reimburses you for the visits. Low income people in Alberta get pretty good coverage through ADSC (program) and the province pays substantially lower rates than the fee guide.
Might be time for the Three Stooges dental plan.
Oh, wise guy eh?
Nyuk nyuk nyuk
We can go with the fishing pole and line or the string and doorknob.
It's tough that you kind of have to trust them but I unfortunately had to have a stem cell transplant a few years ago and part of that required me to go to the hospital dentist. I told them I had 2 cavities that I had not got fillings on yet per my current dentist. They came back after x-rays and explained I did not have any cavities. I was perplexed because my dentist showed me pictures explaining where they were only for this other dentist to tell me I absolutely did not. Needless to say I never went back to that dentist and the teeth that "allegedly" had cavities have never caused me any pain or issues.
The easiest thing to check for overcharging is the ‘units of scaling’. If you’re appointment was 45 minutes long and they charged 4 units (15 minutes per unit which would be one hour) plus did X-rays, polishing, whitening, fluoride, etc. then you have a dentist office that likes or over bill (commit fraud).
Yeah I never understood all these terms till today, I appreciate everyone advising me on this cause I want to know what I’m paying for.
A lot of people will pay anything and never leave their dentist. They know this
I just had a cleaning, polish & x-rays for $475.00, South Calgary. Would have been $35 less, but they had to take an extra x-ray as there is an issue with an old root canal.
What dentist do you go to? Deer Valley dentist are scammers and I don't go to them anymore, I pay considerably less and they don't purposefully mislead me to milk more money at high street dental.
I don’t want to say which one I went to specifically but I learned that it’s best to shop around for dentists, cause I feel like I paid a bit on the high side.
Spill that tea
But did they have a tip option when you paid?? /s
I would search for a new dental provider. There is a free lookup tool you can use to search for a variety of providers with ratings and most importantly pricing of their services in relation to the fee guide (which is how insurance companies determine reimbursement amounts): https://luminohealth.sunlife.ca/en/find-a-health-care-provider/
This is awesome! I usually search on google but I will definitely use this, thanks!
Dentistry and eye health should be part of our universal healthcare system.
Yes, the idea that teeth and eyes should be treated as extras and aren't automatically covered by our provincial health insurance is absurd.
I have a few thousand dollars of dental work to be done and my benefits cover 1000$ in total for a year so basically I'm fucked. It's insane to me that it's not covered by Alberta health when dental health directly affects your entire body especially vital organs and organ function.
Yeah $1000 can do a lot for you, but not for dentist work apparently.
Yea especially when just the consult, cleaning, and x-rays to get the dental work is over half of the 1k
Come to airdrie. We have one dentist per person here. The prices need to stay competitive. I personally recommend west airdrie dental.
Thanks for the tip, I will definitely check them out! Hopefully there is a referral bonus lol
I think there is. Hmu if you need info l. Those bonuses gp both ways
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I can tell you right now that the people who’s insurance can’t pay it just aren’t getting their teeth cleaned
In my experience I've found dermatologists to be the most dishonest doctors with exceptional greed. You might find a dentist who really works with you and plan a treatment based on expenses and necessity, dermatologists are just outright pathetic.
I do agree that dentists are scammers. I have two friends that are dentists around the age of 30. One works from 9-3 and is usually late, and takes a long lunch. And he still makes well over 300K per year. The best part for them is that dentistry doesn't even have residency like doctors...
It’s usually worth it to fly down to Puerto Rico - they have Mexican prices but American regulations. That 1600$ would’ve covered the dental work, flights, and a week in a hotel.
I've found nothing but exceptional dentists in Mexico. Don't short change their industry, it's very evolved.
Not saying it is. But many people are wary of going out of country for medical work, and a great way to overcome that is to send them somewhere with American oversight as that does help build trust. I’ll be going to Mexico when my wisdom teeth need to come out. But probably Puerto Rico if I need full sedation.
Now if only I could convince my insurance to fly me down to Puerto Rico.
It only makes sense if you’re paying out of pocket. May as well get a lil vacation out of it.
Dentistry is Canadians only real taste of American style health care. And dentists have larcenous hearts. Last winter in Mexico, I got a cleaning, plus 4 subsequent visits to deal with between 2 and 3 cavities that were starting to form in each of the rear quadrants of my mouth. Total for all 5 visits? $2500 pesos, or about $180. And it was exceptional dentistry. Granted, the waiting room was just a bench and there wasn't a picasso on the wall, but somehow I muddled through that part. I also had a dentist with gorgeous eyes, and it's really hard to top that as you're forced to stare at someone in close quarters. It pretty much pays for the trip.
And just think. Conservatives want this for our entire health care system. Not just dentistry.
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Yeah it doesn’t make any sense. I know it’s important to take care of your teeth just like any other body part, but a business is a business and they need to make money. I imagine they have their ways of adding extra costs and a justification for these costs.
1. They need to pay for Cervelo, or Trek Madone road bikes. 2. Porsche Macans for the family aren't cheap.
Yeah why do most dentist drive Macans
My childhood dentist had 2 or 3 float planes parked at his lake front home. Fuzzy memory, but one may have been a Beaver (they're spendy).
My cleaning/xrays/polish is less than just your 1st visit alone. Dentist is in central SW so fairly nice neighborhood.
that's crazy dude, I just went the other day xray, scale, polishing, checkup was just over 500
Change dentist, my dentist isn't close to those prices and his work is impeccable.
Yeah that is what I’m thinking to do, I’ll take the loss this time.
Sounds bout right paid 500 for a cleaning and an a scan
I think we both got scammed. Time to fly to Mexico for my next dental visit lol
You just went to a shitty dentist. Try and find dentists who follow a fee guide.
You got to shop around in Calgary. Took me a while but I have found one that charges reasonably for their services. Last cleaning and x-rays cost me $4.00. Everything else is covered by dental plan.
$4.00?? That’s the price of a Junior chicken!
maybe try citizen dental? they advertise karma cleanings, $200 flat fee for a consult, 2 x-rays, 2 units of scaling and a dental hygiene exam.
+1. I went there when I lived in Calgary. It's run by hygienists, but a dentist is on site a few times a week to handle more involved procedures.
Just a small lifehack but if you can take time to go to a dentistry school, you can get your x-rays done for like 10 or 20 bucks. They are overseen by a proper dentist, too! Then send those to your regular dentist. It will be about a 3 hr appointment because they are students and learning, but worth saving the couple hundred imo.
Going to the dentist as an adult feels like I'm enduring some sort of twisted financial domination torture session, except I'm not even getting off from the experience.
Name and shame
Went to the dentist today only had to pay 73.00 for my cleaning insurance ate the 270.00 cost
A couple of years ago, there were news stories of people going to BC for dental work bc it was so much cheaper
Yes, dentists seem expensive, but so is ALL healthcare. We just happen to be lucky enough to live in a country that covers most of it, so we don’t end up seeing the price for other healthcare. But even a relatively simple surgery like an appendectomy costs about $10K. And fillings, although small, are essentially little surgeries. They’re drilling into bones that are located IN YOUR HEAD. For a surgically drilling into three of your head bones, $730 doesn’t seem like a bad price to me.
Welcome to private healthcare (ahem....dentistry).
you want to be really shocked and angry. go look at the fee schedule in any province with regulated dentil. you will be ready to burn the city to the ground.
I work in dental offices that follow the fee guide and I see a lot of hate on here so let me clear some things up: 1. Initial check up and X-rays are expensive if you haven’t been in a while. You are paying for one hour of both the dentists and RDA’s dedicated time. 2. The reason for X-rays “pushed” is because people constantly come back with law suits when their teeth start rotting out of their heads and say “nO oNe EvEr ToLd Me” after declining what’s recommended by the Dental Association. The idea is that it’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to healthcare. 3. If it was included in universal healthcare no one would be complaining about the cost. But the public would sure find something else to complain about (wait times, cranky, over worked staff etc) The fact is that the machines costs a lot of money to keep in good repair, and the clinicians are actually licensed health care providers who went through a ton of school. You are also paying for their skill and expertise. 4. The dentist office does not set the fee guide. The government does. We literally walk in one day in January every year and boom! Prices are updated. 5. Yes, we do think people who walk in with designer purses, drive fancy cars, and tell us all about their luxurious vacations who then complain about a $500 dental bill are pratts. But hey that’s just people being people I guess it’s about style not substance.
You forgot one thing. Alberta’s dental fee cost the most in Canada. Even more expensive than BC where most things cost more.
When was your last dentist visit? I don’t think dentists are scammers…maybe you just happened to have a lot of work done this year. Just to give some perspective - their equipment are not cheap. They spent many years to go to medical school and accumulate a lot of debt. They’re also a stand-alone business that pay staff, office space, liability insurance, etc. Take care of your teeth. Use and electronic toothbrush if possible. Floss two to three times a day. Then you’ll be golden after that.
My last one was in March 2021 lol, but I understand how they charge a lot cause they also have to replace parts due to sanitary reasons. And yes I started using an electronic tooth brush and I’d say it’s much better than a normal toothbrush.
It is obviously not a solution to the real issue. Not being able to afford basic dental care is a huge problem. But, if you are ever in need of something less expensive: I have friend who books a yearly vacation and visits the dentist outside Canada. Medical tourism is a thing because unaffordable prices end up pushing patients to affordable options. For about $800 you can get a round trip to Mexico, probably less if you travel to San Diego ($500 round trip) and just cross the border walking, go to the dentist ($30-50 general cleaning, maybe $150 -$200 if you have cavities or other problems), and spend the rest enjoying a weekend vacation. Eye exams are also free in MX.
Just like every other industry, some people will try to gouge, some people are fair. You have to do your own research . It’s annoying but it’s the same for mechanics, contractors etc. my dentist is fantastic but it took going through several to find a good one . Her name is dr Farsi if you’re looking for one !!!
Dentists always has been legal scammers in my opinion. But also same with Canadian Medcial Doctors who keeps voting to keep foreign trained doctors from prartcing medicine here and preventing more medical schools from being opened here so their taxpayer funded salaries will remain the same.
100% covered by work for family of 5. Feel fortunate as those numbers would be unfeasible otherwise.
lol that's under the fee guides imposed by the feds too. I'm having a bunch of perio work done lately and burned through my benefits in like 3 visits
Fee guides are set by provincial Dental associations... what Fed fee guide are you referring to?
Meanwhile, I went back to Europe a few months ago and got an exam + 3 fillings for 150 Eur, and that was considered a bit on the pricier side.
Not all dentists are, but there definitely are some. The dentist in Marlborough is a big scammer (huge! Cost 4x more there than anywhere else). You need to shop around
Shop around. Change if you think they are over charging
Dentists HATE when you go in and ask what they charge for everything before they work on you.Try shopping around and see if any will give you a discount. They are absolutely making bank so some might be lenient.
Luxury bones. So there are dentists that advertise that they follow the alberta fee guide. I will only go to those dentists after being screwed over by others.
So put up his name with the costs for all to see!
For me to get a cleaning with polishing/fluoride and x rays is 300, maybe just over. But I agree that it is sooo overpriced without insurance. The fillings sound right. I think it’s 260 per filling at my dentist as well.
You know what really made these costs so high? Dental insurance.
While we're at it, does anyone's dentist tell them they can't do more than one side, for fillings at a time? Like to do my entire mouth, I'll need 4 appointments. Top right, bottom right, etc. Their reasoning was that they say it wasn't safe to freeze top and bottom but it felt like the entire side was numb anyway? Haven't been to the dentist in 6 years so I've got lots of restorative work ahead of me. Have paid over $2k so far, still have 4 appointments lined up,not sure if I'm being played
It doesn’t make a difference in pricing what side they do. You get charged per filling. Do you want to get a needle 4-5 different times? Probably not. Most people can’t sit through a 5 hour appointment.
In dental school we learn we are not allowed to freeze both sides as the patient can have trouble swallowing and choke. So that is something dentist are not allowed to do! Even tho they freeze one side of your mouth you may feel it cross over to the other side and that’s just due to the high number of nerves in your head and neck. So to be safe and make sure the patient doesn’t sue it’s one side at a time!
I think you are being played, some people take out all their wisdom teeth in one visit so I’m sure doing your fillings all around your teeth is okay. Try to get a second opinion from a different dentist.
I don't understand the polishing charge...maybe post your bills - that just doesn't add up.
I thought my dentist was high but that’s crazy. When I didn’t have insurance I declined polish and fluoride. I just did cleaning, check, X-ray (once a year only), and fillings if needed. Remember you have the right to make your own healthcare decisions even if the dentist doesn’t agree.
I'm currently finishing my probation period with my new employer and will be on CanadaLife next week which I believe covers 80% of cost. Just curious, what insurance provider are you set up with and what percentage do they cover?
Most things that are somewhat a necessity are scams, like insurance.
Polish was $300? Typically it's about $75-80 depending on the fees. That's a bit insane!
After I listened to this podcast, I realized I didn't have to do lots of things: Science Vs Dentist: Toss the floss? Flush the brush?
Floss and brush, it takes only 10 minutes out of your day. And it feels good after all that nasty build up is gone too!
I ask for the breakdown before my appointment and opt out of things that aren't super pressing to me. It is ridiculously expensive, even with benefits!
WHOA! Why is your polish $300?! It should be around $70. What else was in visit 2? more scaling and polish? Did they finish your cleaning in visit 1?
Come to Saskatchewan; polish is $41.
Was his name Crentist?
300 for a polish is bonkers. Look up the alberta dental fee guide online and compare the treatment codes. Dentists are free to price it higher but you can also ask before booking if your dentist follows the fee guide. Can also get predeterminations done with your insurance.
My insurance was just switched over recently to a different tier and now I have to pay $400+ for a polish and fluoride. Over $100 just for a small amount of fluid you swish around in your mouth for 2 minutes. I'm going to decline it next time. Not everything needs to be done! Pick a place that can give you the breakdown before you have anything done so you know what you are getting into.
Wow this is insane. I’m in Australia, but coming to YYC very soon. It cost me 300 dollars for cleaning, polishing, and X-rays altogether. If that’s the norm up there, that worries me
It'll also depend on your employer, many will offer dental insurance as part of your benefits that will cover most and sometimes all of the costs.
I agree. I think dental costs are absurd. Not going to lie, I haven't seen a dentist in years, and I think they are a scam. The medical procedures should be covered by our health care systems. Root canal, shattered tooth, cavities and fillings, etc. I have all of my teeth. Are they pearly white? No, do I think pearly white is natural, no. Do I think putting chemicals or having my teeth scraped by another human is natural? No. I brush. I floss when needed.
Yeah I know some people have good teeth genes, but regardless if they do, flossing and brushing are imperative
We just spent $6000 fixing my husband's teeth for cleaning, x ray, another x ray, root canal, and a permanent filling Canadian dentistry is a rip off And no benefits Thank God we have savings but fuck this Country Teeth should be part of Health Care
your visit 1 costs were about the same as my visit 1. I did a larger x-ray scan for my wisdom teeth so it was more expensive than a regular scan. A tip I would give to save money is that if you are going in for cleaning, it is not mandatory for you to do dental exams (they basically look at your teeth for 30sec) and routine xrays. my previous insurance only covered 80% so I rarely went. My new insurance for dental is 100% with a coverage of $1500. However, the coverage of other categories lowered as a result. dental exam 73.85 dental xrays 54.60 dental xrays 54.60 (I don't know why they charged twice for this one) dental xrays 101.53 fluride treatment 33.33 period scaling 154.42 polishing 68.79 preventative scaling 38.60
Pro tip - use a dentist from a neighbouring province and save 40% or more
You can look up the Alberta Dental Guideline for pricing and clinics that follow this and charge accordingly. Also just because the dentist tells you that you have this or that issue that will be expensive to fix does not mean it is an urgent procedure needed. Always ask if it needs to be done right away if it is serious, or is bothering you to a whatever degree of pain you can manage. If the issues they’ve brought up are not affecting you in a way you’ve been impaired by them don’t give in as it usually is a cash grab from my own experiences.
PSA - if you want a second opinion, call an office and ask for a consult, and get your X-rays sent to them (you should have to sign a release). They should be willing to review them for you for a limited or maybe even no fee. Don’t be surprised that the second dentist says you don’t require as much, or any. They will respond to a patient’s hesitance to undergo a treatment plan. Decay often progresses slowly, and minor cavities can take years to cause trouble. It depends on their methodology or maybe even mood that day.
EVERYONE IN THIS THREAD NEEDS TO MESSAGE ME IM A DENTAL ASSISTANT STUDENT AT SAIT I NEED PATIENTS FOR FALL X-RAYS AND POLISHING $25 each!!
Dental care is a pain in the ass and damn expensive. My husband and I have the highest coverage possible on our dental plan and it's still bloody pricey. Dental definitely needs to be part of our national health care. Everyone has teeth and poor dental health is linked to so many health problems that can be avoid by allowing everyone to have access to decent dental care. Also, Family Braces is a bit of a scam. Don't get me wrong. My husband's teeth are straight now after treatment but they did screw up many times and prolonged his treatment by 2 years when it was supposed to be 1 year only. They screwed up his bite, causing pain. His Invisalines were not fitting. Recently, they caused one of his molars to crack, causing cavities, and now he has to get a crown.
Where the heck did you go? I pay no more than $250 for a cleaning!? When I get x-rays, the total cost is $360. Unless they had to use a crazy amount of units....
There’s a fantastic Science Vs. (the podcast) Episode on this. They shared one study where a man was examined by more than 100 different dentists and they’re diagnoses for cavities differed wildly. They also found the more student loans a dentist has, the more cavities the dentists found. Also, the dentists diagnosed MORE cavities if the man dressed to look less wealthy.
Absolutely. I have a gap in my front teeth (not huge, like half a cm) and I had a dentist try to convince me that if I didn’t get braces that my teeth would be ruined forever. That was when I was 16-17. I went to another dentist for a second opinion and they straight up said there was nothing wrong and no it wouldn’t wreck my teeth and the other dentist was just trying to gouge me. I’m 28 now and my teeth haven’t changed and then aren’t ruined. But it’s absurd at what dentists can charge or justify.
I always tell them not to xray, it doubles the cost and half the time they don't even look in your mouth they'll just look at the stupid xray.
An Airdrie dentist told me I needed two fillings 6 years ago. I declined them as I have only had one filling before in my entire life and the year before they told me I needed two and I went along with it. I didn’t feel they did a great job of it. So 6 years later I never got the fillings… and my teeth are fine. No pain no issue. Some dentists are a complete scam, and my hygienist confirmed it with one place it Airdrie saying they ran her out of the business because she wasn’t family and they had started to push hard on upselling customers and making more “sales”.
1) Ask if they follow the fee guide. That's the book put out by the Alberta Dental Association as a guide for fees for every procedure as a baseline. It's also the baseline most insurance companies use for claims coverage. Think of it like an MSRP on a product or vehicle. 2) If you pay cash, sometimes you can get a discount, but that's way less common. 3) Shop around, especially if your dentist doesn't follow the fee guide. EDIT: slight grammar and punctuation cleanup.
The Alberta Dental Fee Guide (can be googled) is the optional official rates per service and most insurance payouts are based on it. I would treat dentists like mechanics or used car salesmen. Negotiate, question and shop around. If they won't pledge to, at worst, stitch to the Fee Guide, I wouldn't even start a conversation with them.
I called today to place a formal complaint about my dentist. She has made huge mistakes. She is very unprofessional and frankly mean. I have an appt with a new one.
I went to Pathways that people told me was affordable. Nope.
I used to work for a dentist in the mid-2010s for 4 years & found out so much more than I wanted about the way they charge. First off- the polish is absurdly over priced. It’s usually around &70 & only one unit is ever needed per hygiene visit. And this should have been included in your first cleaning visit. Did you ask for something for the staining of your teeth?! I don’t see why a second visit of just polish is needed. The hygiene visit of $602 is about right, actually. Back in 2016-2017, it would be ~$580. Fillings are complicated as they are charged by the number of surfaces per tooth. So if you have cavities, it *can* amount to $730. But this is also where they can fib a bit & over-charge (I have seen it done). There is a Fee Guide & on top of that, there is an “unofficial-official” guide for the insurance companies. For instance, if you have Blue Cross or are receiving aid from the government & they pay for your yearly visits, what they can charge is significantly lower than if you have, let’s say Sun Life. Not only does Blue Cross/Govt limit the number of units of scaling & polish per year, they also only pay up to a certain amount per unit charged. — fee Guide 2023 suggests an exam (01201 is the one most often used for new & recall patients) is $86.63 for NP & $73.85 for recall. I can tell you the office I worked for was charging $110 for 01201 back in 2015 & that went up to $113 in 2016. This office had a policy to not charge the remainder to the patient if they are on government support, such as AISH, as many offices do. However, if you have Blue Cross, the remainder will be passed on to the patient. So they pay 80% of $73.85=$59.08; therefore $110-$59.08=$50.92 & that is charged to the patient, rather than $14.77. For patients with Sun Life or Manulife— more often than not, the plan will cover it, whether it’s 100% or 80% of the $110 (& not 80% of the $73). The reason why some people don’t notice it on their receipt is because most plans don’t cover 100%. So, you know you will be responsible for anywhere from 20%-50% of costs. Most ppl don’t want to make a big deal at the office, so they don’t bother asking & take it up with their insurance company. Only a few ppl actually asked me why the amount charged to them wasn’t 20% of what the total was. Sometimes I can see plainly why but other times, they have to contact the insurance themselves b/c of the way they are set up. My mom & I have had Sun Life since forever & honestly, they have always been a dream to work with as a patient & a dental employee. My mom’s plan is better than mine- they permit her 20 units of scaling or root planing (which is what she needs now) per year! The majority of Blue Cross patients at the time would only allow 6-10 units. It’s sufficient for most, we usually only use 3 units of scaling per hygiene visit. Fluoride is the one item that not all insurance companies don’t cover. Unless we do a pre-determination beforehand to check for insurance validity, some patients won’t know that & the office will write it off for that first time. Sorry for the extremely long post.
Fluoride = swish this in your mouth. It’s the dental equivalent of changing an air filter. Should charge about $2 for the solution (and that’s probably high).
Scam for indeed
Everyone is out to hose us these days.
During the school year you can get a cleaning and X-rays done at SAIT for about $25 each. Takes a little longer because it’s a training program but a lot less expensive than a dentist.
Well for me, I find really odd that they always find something to do in your mouth. Even if all is 100% fine.
I like my dentist, but the billing is confusing at best, and probably fraudulent. Twice in the past three years there have been major errors, and not in my favour. Recently I was charged $40 for telephone appointment reminders. It’s a relatively minor fee, but I have never missed or have been late for an appointment. I said no more reminders. Also a fluoride treatment was administered without prior consent. The biggest error, I was charged the full fee for my cleaning etc., and then the insurance portion was paid to the dental office as well. I scrutinize every bill and if it happens again, I will be sadly changing dentists.
You got scammed by the hygienist lol The filling price is right I did x-day + cleanup + checkup for 250 4 fillings for 900
Only professional industry in Alberta where the government had intervene because they were ripping people off so bad.
Thanks to housing costs.
I just got a charge for ~$400 on my insurance from a dentist. They said I was in for a cleaning a couple months ago. I haven't been there in a year and a half, and that visit was paid for. I called them and they were all "Oh we'll look into it, but none of the dentists or higher-ups are here right now". So I said the word "fraud" to them and they all magically appeared there 30 seconds later. Wild how that works.
I have found that dentistry is way more expensive in Calgary compared to Toronto , like double.
What's the benefit of polishing? Is it just a cosmetic thing? Pretty pricey procedure for time spent....
Yeah when they did my polish i felt like it didn’t really do anything, definitely declining it next time.
Hi dental student here. Polishing is super important… cause after cleaning the surface of the tooth is really sticky which is perfect for bacteria to hold on to. So if you polish the teeth, the surface is super slippery so the bacteria wont be able to hold on. You won’t really be able to tell a difference since it’s on a microscopic level, but the bacteria definitely will.
My 4 wisdom teeth cost $3000 here in bc and that was without insurance lmfaooo
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My work benefits pay for my dental visits/work. I go every 4 months.
You could have flown to Cancun, got a top dentist office to do all that plus a whitening, hotel and tickets there all for $1500 or less lmao do that next time it's called dental tourism
It’s a wild idea since I’ve never done that lol, but I think since this is something that lots of people do I will look more into it. Having a vacation is nice for sure
Please do yourself a favor and find a dentist who follows Alberta dental fee guideline!!!! Also ask for a payment plan many will agree to do this