why is dental care so expensive? my teeth are awful and i am in pain, but no dentist around here is helpful?

they don't take partial payments. there isn't a dental school around here, and dental insurance is a joke. I am glad other medical isn't like dentistry
--------------------
I will never understand why dentists are expected to take partial payments. Does your grocery store take partial payments? How 'bout your auto mechanic? Hair salon? I"ll try to be helpful first and answer your question second. Call dentists and ask if they offer Care Credit or another financing option. This basically works the same as a credit card - you apply and then they pay for your work or at least a portion and you pay it off over time. This way a large corporation with resources to follow up (ie, pursue collections if necessary) handles your repayment. Of course if you have lousy credit, this doesn't help you. To be honest, if you are in acute pain, this problem can be resolved for around $200. Yes, that's a decent chunk of change but not so much relative to other care. I know people who pay this much to have their hair cut and colored or one trip to the mall, and they are not "rich" either. Why do you think dentists should take payments? If you are a long time patient and you've paid payments in the past here or there, they might trust you to do so in the future. However, if yor'e someone who just comes into the practice off the street, why should I give you care without knowing if I'll be paid? You SAY you will? What if you get the treatment and then are unable or unwilling to pay? I just have to eat that cost? I'll be honest - I DO this with a few really poor folks in my area, but what if all the poor people then come to me cuz word gets out? Eventually, I will run out of money, my staff won't get paid and they'll quit and I won't be able to keep supplies in stock and will shut down. Then I'm helping NO one. My receptionist is busy with her work now...she doesn't have time to call people all day saying, "Yeah, hey, are you going to pay us this month's $100 or....?" I'm 120,000 in debt for my dental education. This payment is $600/month. my practice cost in the rough neighborhood of half a million to purchase, to which I pay $5000 per month. Every two weeks my staff gets paid, which costs 10-15 thousand. Supplies are a few thou a month, rent is about 2K/mo. When I get done paying everything -I- owe for the office, i then get some money to take home and pay my mortgage and all the other bills I have. I haven't even gone into taxes - payroll, income, worker's comp, licensure etc etc. and also the 9 diff kinds of insurance I have to carry to stay open. Now, most dentists are pretty well-off, but let's look at this way: While other people were enjoying their youth, I was spending most of my 20s getting that education. Living on Ramen noodles and studying my *** off for 8 years... most dentists feel there shoudl be a pay off at the end of that road. Lastly, if you think other medical isn't like dentistry, you are fortunate enough to have not had a major hospitalization...They will bleed you dry for that stuff. OF course, if you can't pay, evntually they just write it off and because they write it off, the bills are higher for everyone who pays out of pocket or insurance, and there's an upward spiral. -I- don't like this any more than you, but our country has chosen an administration that has spent billions of dollars on half-assed foreign "adventures".... I'm no socialist, but we could probably cover yearly dental for every American with what we spend in Iraq in a WEEK. sorry about the topic change, but that's what it comes down to...capitism is wonderful, but you get business interests controlling even the most sympathetic dentists! The gov't doesnt' care about your teeth, so you have to get insurance and THEN you're at hte mercy of ANOTHER business interest that's out to make a profit. Most European countries, Japan...heck, COSTA RICA has better health care solutions than US despite how rich our country is as a whole. sorry to vent, but as you can see, the situation is frustrating for me as well. See if there are any non-profit clinics in your area - I've worked at one that I helped open for the last 3 years before buying my practice and it's really great.
Source