Yes. Run away or get 2nd opinion.

I'm 50+ as well and have been sold several mouth guards that I never wear.

As to spending $1,500 per crown, I'd get at least one more opinion before "going for the gusto". There are varying opinions and if money is an obstacle, university dental schools can offer savings of up to 80%.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

Welcome to the world of corporate dentistry.

In addition to fluoride we are brushing and flossing better than ever (I'm 62 and have a number of fillings, none of my 3 daughters have). What's a dentist to do? Eke out a living doing annual checkups? Nope, take option B, go to work for a corporate dentistry operation who pays a great salary but has a business model like a 1960's car lot-- "You gotta get the rust proofing or your car will fall apart in two years."

I've got three family members in dentristy and the all say they hate this system as the patient is strong-armed into expensive and unnecessary treatments, in addition the hygienist is having to race through a cleaning to be able to meet a daily quota.

It's not just the big national dentist chains, the independent local guy might have attended a dentistry continuing education class a month ago on how to make more money. My dentist ticked me off when I went in a few years ago and saw the logo of a new treatment system stitched into everyones lab coat and surprise, surprise, I just happened to need that treatment. I passed and my factory installed teeth are still present and accounted for. In the subsequent four visits the "need" I had never reared its ugly head.

If you haven't had an issue I wouldn't even get a second opinion, just tell them to do the cleaning and you'll keep and eye on things.

Definitely get a second opinion. We briefly went to a sales-focused dentist. She "accepted" insurance, but instead of billing insurance she'd charge you her full price up front, bill insurance the contracted rate, and then insurance would send you a check for the contracted rate; I've never had another medical practitioner operate that way. I could go into other details about how she was looking for every dime, regardless of medical necessity, but the point is that if you're getting red flags you may be correct and need to confirm.

My wife had a mouth guard made which she wore for about a month. Money well spent.

I'm sure I grind my teeth while I sleep. Oh well.

Even dentists / dental techs work the up-sell.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Get a second opinion or even a third. I don't know what it is about professionals these days. At least in my neck of the woods. No one wants to start their own clinic and offer great service and build up a loyal client base. Everyone wants to walk in at 930 leave at 430 or just work half days. Which would be okay but they also want to make big money from day one.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Reading this while my daughter in the dentist chair for a cavity in a baby tooth. 1) why are we filling cavities in baby teeth in the first place? And 2) the hygienist asks if my 7 year old wants laughing gas. Why the hell would I know? My first thought exactly was an up charge.

Yep, went to the dentist a few years back. She told me I had 5 cavities, I almost fell out of my chair. Scheduled the first one with another dentist at the same practice. Complained to him, he reviewed and said I only had 2.

Found out the first dentist only floated down to that office once a week and worked for a different practice about 2 hours away. 2nd dentist was a year out of dental school and I make sure I see him.

My dentist retired and sold his practice to an established group that used this model. First work they did I paid upfront. Completely forgot until I got something in the mail from insurance company about paying claim to the practice. I called about getting refund from the practice since the check went there. They told me, "we're holding that in escrow for you. You mentioned teeth whitening and replacing an old cavity so we'll apply it toward that." That really annoyed me because they were the ones who suggested all that and I told them no thanks. Told them to mail me a check for the balance.

I was told by a friend who works in claims a number of dentist do it this way now. Well not the hold the funds in escrow part.

I'd definitely get a second opinion if I was OP.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

In my case I would have been 100% fine paying the contracted insurance rate up front and then having them submit the reimbursement to insurance so a check would be sent to me. I get that they want to be paid when they do the work and that insurance can be a pain to deal with, so offloading the delayed payment is understandable. What really stuck me was the fact that they charged me the full non-contract rate while knowing full well I'd only be reimbursed for the contract rate, and yet didn't say a thing about that. Every other dentist I've gone to has just billed insurance direct, other than co-pays when applicable, so I'm convinced her practice works as it does because she knows she can collect more money, not the convenience of immediate payment; she's in a wealthy area, so my assumption is that most of her clients just don't care. I didn't go back; ended up driving 75 minutes each way back to the awesome dentist near where I used to live.

I go to Walmart and buy the $1.00 mouth guard that they sell for football. I follow the instructions to mold it to my teeth and then use them as a night bite guard. I think they work better than the hard plastic ones that the dentist makes (I had one of these until the I left it on the bedside table and the dog ate it).

Every six months or so I make a new one. I'm bitter about spending the extra dollar...... but oh well.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

Meh. You're all just a bunch of anti-dentite bastards!

Dentists are getting the realtor treatment.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

...a RAGING anti-Dentite, I tell ya!

I still dig my dentist... She's moderately attractive, and fairly busty relative to her petite stature, so when she's sitting on her stool behind me and has to lean over from above, her mams mush the top of my head at no extra charge! (at least it's not itemized as an extra service on my insurance billing...)

 Definitely get a second or third opinion but also know that things can go south pretty quickly. I am around your age and only had a few cavities throughout my life. No issues whatsoever with my teeth until now.

I had what I thought was a sinus infection for quite a while but at a regular dental check up, the dentist I'd been going to thought I had some kind of abscess. I sit right in front of the Preds team dentist all season so I talk to him about it and went into see him (like a dentist for a professional hockey team should know teeth, right).

He ended up sending me to an endodontist who agreed with him that I had two severely cracked teeth which a root canal would help one tooth but may or may not help the other. Plus, a third tooth had the cavity filling fall out.

So team dentist sent me to the team oral surgeon and she ended up having to extract all three. And now I'm going to have to get implants, but we will wait until January so I can switch to our premium dental plan at work which will cover it. The good news is that they are all molars so you cannot see the missing teeth area. The bad news is it's both sides of my mouth and you use your molars to chew, so I am pretty limited on what I can eat, especially right now since I still have stitches. But perhaps this will be a good weight loss mechanism.

Might as well have a sense of humor about it. Between me and a couple of the more aggressive defense players, we may have a full set of teeth.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

It seems like "deep cleaning" or perio scaling is the new high dollar procedure to sell. I'm not convinced...

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat