Dental Emergency

Dear Financial Assistance Representative:

I recently had my first dental emergency. I found myself in sudden and intense pain like I had never experienced before and I needed help quickly. The handful of visits I’d made to Evil Dental were consistently disturbing and this occasion was no different, so imagine how overjoyed I was to get an appointment at your Saturn location just minutes from my home. I am disabled and I have Medicare with Medicaid, so I made sure to tell the person who booked my appointment to prevent a misunderstanding.

I learned that I had to decide between pulling a tooth or having a root canal. I’ve never had either and I didn’t have a lot of time to decide, but both of the trained professionals who looked at it (Saturn and Evil) counseled me to save the tooth. So that’s what I did.

After it was over, the dentist told me that I couldn’t come back and be a regular patient if I didn’t pay the bill. I understood that a root canal required multiple visits to complete and I was pretty shaken up by the whole experience that the idea of not having an agreeable, reliable dentist scared me. After all, that was part of the reason this happened in the first place. I used my “emergencies only” credit card and paid the entire bill before I left to ensure that wouldn’t be an issue.

I went back for a second appointment some weeks later and I told the dentist first thing that I couldn’t possibly use my emergency credit card again and that I would need help with a care credit account or payment plan. I also said that a dentist should be able to connect his patients with the resources they need to access his services. He didn’t give me any information, but he did go in and do a “temporary filling.” I thought that’s what I left with last time. The assistant set up another appointment for me while I was still in the exam room but I still don’t understand where I am with regard to the remaining steps in this procedure or coverage/payment for those visits. It is my understanding that none of this is covered by my Medicare plan or by Medicaid.

Apologies for the long story but I like to be thorough. If you would like to contact me, my number is (716) 865-4092 and my email is cindyloohoo@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your consideration.