the Price of Emergency Dental Care

Last year I had to have an emergency tooth removal due to it breaking, and I called a dental care provider based on a billboard I had seen that said they did emergency care. They took X-rays ($70) and then removed the tooth ($350).

I found this service to be terrible, actually. To me, emergency care means immediate care. But when I called them I had to wait until the next day for the X-rays, and then had to wait another day for them to look them over and schedule me. And this was over my birthday, so the experience was especially negative. I found the wait time to be too long, and then they didn't take my insurance so I had to pay cash (because I didn't have a usual dental provider at the time). Well, since I didn't just happen to have $420 sitting in my wallet, I had to go home and get my checkbook. I left my purse and house keys up there so they knew someone would be coming back. I went home and told my husband and he said he would go take care of it for me. The dental office called and talked to him and he said he would be up there shortly. He helped get me comfortable on the couch and was just about to leave when a police officer pulls up and wants to charge me with theft of services! It was the most humiliating moment of my life.

Know up front that there may be huge fees charged for this service, and that you might not be covered by insurance for it! Make sure ahead of time, and bring lots of cash...