Budget Buster -- New Teeth :scared:

[bdoyledimou]

So i was carrying a box into my house , tripped, and kissed the concrete porch 3 times in rapid succession --- bang bang bang.
End result, my lower teeth are gone, all the teeth in the left side of my face sheared at the root, and the pressure compacted and shifted the teeth on the right side up my face -- ever see the simpson episode where Lisa got Braces -- well i look like "After" pic in the "if you don't get it treated" picture

So after a consult -- have to do a full extraction, plus full dentures
Now this is all covered by my dental insurance plan -- but we have to pay up front -- and then submit the claim -- and insurance companies are that fast when it comes time to paying out ..

So $2500 for the extractions, and $1800 for the denture

All of this is scheduled for July 17th -- one month before we go on our trip on Aug 18th!! Not even sure I will be on solid foods by then ---- and hoping that we get our reimbursement back in time -- or no spending money while we are away


Anyone familiarise with timeliness for reimbursement like this?!?

 

[poohfriend77]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

Every insurance company is different. Mine tends to take 6-9 months to reimburse anything. It's very frustrating! Hopefully yours will be much quicker than that, but I wouldn't count on getting it within a month for your trip. Maybe you could call the insurance company and ask how long it usually takes.

Good luck with the money and the dentures!

 

[ceecee]

A lot of insurances have maximums as well. Although probably your medical ins will pay it since it was an accident and by the time they get the info they need to pay it very well may be past your vacation. So sorry to hear it and hope you feel better soon. It does take people a while to get used to dentures most times so be patient. Did they talk to you about an overdenture? It has two implants that the denture kind of snaps into for a more secure fit. Since your insurance is covering it, you may want to look into it.

 

[bdoyledimou]

yeah my max is $5000 for the dentures -- but the post/implant dentures would be a min $8000 !! Maybe next year

I do have the pre approval -- but I am now officially freaked out with the 6-9 month recovery!!! i hope its not that long!

 

[Kay1]

What a terrible accident. I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm afraid I have nothing to offer you but my best wishes. I hope someone else can offer you good advice.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Your dentist should submit to medical for that first. My daughter fell at school and knocked out her 2 perm teeth. Medical paid for everything but her crows. Then dental kicked in half for that and we ended up paying 600.00 for over 4K in dental work.

 

[3happydancers]

So i was carrying a box into my house , tripped, and kissed the concrete porch 3 times in rapid succession --- bang bang bang.
End result, my lower teeth are gone, all the teeth in the left side of my face sheared at the root, and the pressure compacted and shifted the teeth on the right side up my face -- ever see the simpson episode where Lisa got Braces -- well i look like "After" pic in the "if you don't get it treated" picture

So after a consult -- have to do a full extraction, plus full dentures
Now this is all covered by my dental insurance plan -- but we have to pay up front -- and then submit the claim -- and insurance companies are that fast when it comes time to paying out ..

So $2500 for the extractions, and $1800 for the denture

All of this is scheduled for July 17th -- one month before we go on our trip on Aug 18th!! Not even sure I will be on solid foods by then ---- and hoping that we get our reimbursement back in time -- or no spending money while we are away


Anyone familiarise with timeliness for reimbursement like this?!?

I can't offer any advise but read your post and had to ask how you are feeling? Sending lots of and your way!

 

[gator75]

I also can't offer any advise but wanted to say i hope you feel better and i'm sorry this happened to you sending you lots of

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

Sending much sympathy!

Is there anyway to do the extractions sooner?

 

[TrulyMadlyDisney]

DH got full uppers last year. He was really only uncomfortable for 1 week, biting and eating within 2 weeks. Your gums do take 6 months to shrink down to their permanant size, but that shouldn't bother you after a couple weeks. I think you will be fine for your trip.

 

[RadioMom]

YIKES! That hurt just reading it! I'm thankful you have insurance and a great dentist/denturist! The insurance company we use typically pay within a week to ten days of the invoice being submitted electronically by my dentist. Have you sent in the estimate to your insurance company? Such a large amount could flag it if it hasnt been. It just takes a quick call to your dentist and they can send it electronically. I'm sure you'll be in good shapemfor the mouse!

So i was carrying a box into my house , tripped, and kissed the concrete porch 3 times in rapid succession --- bang bang bang.
End result, my lower teeth are gone, all the teeth in the left side of my face sheared at the root, and the pressure compacted and shifted the teeth on the right side up my face -- ever see the simpson episode where Lisa got Braces -- well i look like "After" pic in the "if you don't get it treated" picture

So after a consult -- have to do a full extraction, plus full dentures
Now this is all covered by my dental insurance plan -- but we have to pay up front -- and then submit the claim -- and insurance companies are that fast when it comes time to paying out ..

So $2500 for the extractions, and $1800 for the denture

All of this is scheduled for July 17th -- one month before we go on our trip on Aug 18th!! Not even sure I will be on solid foods by then ---- and hoping that we get our reimbursement back in time -- or no spending money while we are away


Anyone familiarise with timeliness for reimbursement like this?!?

 

[SamSam]

Your post made me cringe for the pain you must have endured! I hopeful you heal in time and are able to enjoy your trip.

I can't help you with you insurance question as we have a Health Saving Plan type insurance (no dental), but I want to thank you for posting as I'm now thinking we should check out dental plans 'just in case'.

 

[cuterlt]

My husband got full dentures last year - he had had a partial upper plate before that for many years. Make sure you have a good dentist. He should do a few fittings of your dentures. You should go back for a re-line in 6 months or so after your gums shrink. Hubby waited about 9 mos because he had a couple of tooth pieces still coming out.
He was eating fine within a week - although you have to learn how to chew differently. It does take some getting used to and he had to experiment with the different denture adhesives. For the upper, he swears by sea bond. For the lowers, he just uses fixodent gel, although before he had the reline, he used strips. They are all expensive, but well worth it.
Hubby had surgery to remove the rest of his teeth, and had his dentures with him. They put them on him after the surgery, and he had to keep them on. We went in to the dentist a day or two later to see how it was healing. It did take a while.
My husband is very happy with his new teeth. He credits our fantastic dentist for his smile - a smile he never had before!!
A lot of our expense was covered by insurance, HOWEVER, we did go past the maximum of our plan, which I had not counted on. We had set aside flex plan money to get the work done so that I could get him to do it as he didn't want to charge it to a credit card. I think it was about $4k for everything.
Good luck!

 

[cuterlt]

Also, they wanted to do implants/posts, and we decided to wait on it. He is about 13 months post-surgery and doesn't see the need for them.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'm sure he would love to answer anything.

 

[pyrxtc]

OUCH !!! So sorry and I hope that at least some of the pain is going away by now. Good Luck with the insurance. Mine was really good and I got back some money I paid in after only about 6 weeks.

 

[Green Tea]

This should be a medical claim, not a dental claim. Your health insurance should be the primary and you likely would not have to pay upfront.

 

[Panna]

You can also look into Care Credit, they have great Zero Interest Payment plans that you can use until the insurance company reimburses you.

I know a lot of dentist that will not deal with the insurance companies - its a pay first and put in a claim. It's a pain but they are protecting themselves from nonpayment and delayed payments.

Ouch! Hope you feel better and good luck!

 

[bdoyledimou]

Just heard back from all parties -- insurance, dentist, denturist and it is going to be a whopping $0 OOP!! phew -- AND i am getting the procedure done June 21, which gives me 2 months to recover before going on my trip~~~

A little bit of pixie dust in the air!

 

[bumbershoot]

Just heard back from all parties -- insurance, dentist, denturist and it is going to be a whopping $0 OOP!! phew --

Oh, Canada..... Awesome!


By the way, youch! I'm so sorry that happened to you.

 

[pigletto]

Isn't this just one of the moments where you thank your lucky stars for good insurance!!?!!
I'm so pleased for you. I can only imagine how stressful it's been!