Can you do the math on these dental fees?

[howard555]

Originally Posted by CarolinaWoman

How is the partial working out? At least you got the teeth extracted for free and if the partial doesn't work out you can go to Sexton or Affordable and get a new one.

Last November when they had the clinic in Charlotte, Channel 36 had it on the news. People were lined up everywhere ... hundreds of people at the two day clinic.

With so many people out of work and lacking dental insurance that is a much needed service. I have paid out over $2000 this year in dental work and still have more to go.

My daughter was laid off from her job and needs her teeth cleaned. I need to tell her about this Missions of Mercy.

Maybe I over expected on my partial...?

I tried it, for the first time, today. The teeth are a bit lighter than my others, as far as shade. I saw the paperwork and the periodonist chose 4.3, whatever that color means.

The periodonist who did my impressions also pulled the teeth and fitted the partial.
Since the lab crew had from say 9am Friday to 2pm Saturday to finish the 74 partials, the 74 people could not have any teeth pulled until Saturday and only after their partials were made.
I was impression #45 but I was the 70th one (out of 74) to be called when my partial was finished.

So, they had about 7 dentist doing these impressions-extractions-partials.
So each one handled about 10 patients each. I was the next to last one, done by my doctor.

For some reason he needed to remove the wire anchor on the left side.

I saw the partial for the first time, in a mirror today. I was disappointed.

The color was off.
The main problem I noticed was the 5 teeth were not parallel with the ground.
Maybe my mouth is not straight, or my original 5 teeth were not flat to the ground either.
Also, the 5 false teeth make my lower teeth look too far inward, as if I need braces for overbite.
The partial sticks out further than the lower teeth.

I noticed a little bleeding, so I took it off and will let it heal some more, over a couple days.

I smiled and it appears that one end of the partial is lower than the other, noticeably.
Better than what I had, which was two broken vertically and the other 3 broken off at the gum.
And of course the cost could not be beat.

I had a licensed periodonist who owns 11 offices himself, do my teeth.
I can not get anyone more qualified, or devoted, to the services they offer at these clinics.

I sure can't get anything better at Affordable Dentures or Sexton. They won't entertain the issues I find with my partial.

The only thing I did not understand was how they made the impressions before they pulled the teeth.
Normally you'd have the teeth pulled first. At least that is the way my local dentist-surgeon planned it.
They did squeeze some compound around my teeth and asked me to bite down, and they filled in the gaps. This stuff hardened into a metal like material. This was used by the lab workers to make a mold. After the mold was made, the molds and the impressions were used to create the teeth, etc.
They made one tooth at a time. It was a tedious procedure I'm sure, and each lab specialist made about 10 partials each from the first one around 9am June 29th to mine which was around 1:30pm the 30th.

I can hear the naysayers now, crying, "you get what you pay for."

I had one of the best, or the best, periodonist in the state of N.C., maybe beyond the state.

[AnonChick]

You were a piece of meat in a factory warehouse conveyor belt, and you were given the service and treatment one would expect from factory warehouse conveyor workers.

Whether those workers had DMD degrees is irrelevent. The greatest, most gifted, talented, genius dentist in the world, will still not be operating at 50% in those kinds of conditions.

You wanted free partials, you wanted free dental service. You wanted teeth pulled. You got *exactly* what you wanted.

If you want quality partials, good dental service, and properly-extracted teeth, then you have to actually pay for it.

[howard555]

There were 60 dental chairs.
10 were reserved, ONLY for the oral surgeons who took impressions, pulled the teeth and fitted the partials.
So, 8 dentist took care of the 74 people who got partials.
So, the other 52 dentist handled the other 926 patients for fillings and extractions.

Therefore, I did not feel like an item on a conveyor belt.
The doctors doing the impressions-plates, worked a total of 20 hours over two days and handled 74 people. That is 9.25 per dentist over 20 hours = 2.1 hours for EACH patient.
These dentist took breaks, rotated for lunch, etc.

I think these specialists having 2.1 hours of time, for each patient, was adequate under the circumstances.

Would I have gotten a better partial from Affordable Dentures or Sexton....???

Mine was the 70th one made, though my impression was #45 to reach the lab team.
I have bone sticking out of my upper gum. My plate had to be adapated to fit avoid my upper gum on the outside. They could not surgically remove bone in that setting and I knew that before going.

I looked at my plate today. A visual look and the 5 teeth look straight.
When it is in my mouth that's another story, one end looks closer to the ground than the other end.

So, my periodonist had 2.1 hours to do my impressions and pull the teeth, and fit the partial.
The 8 lab specialist who made the 74 partials, also has 2.1 hours to devote to creating each of the 74 partials.
I got 4.2 hours of time from the dentist and the lab.

Sexton specializes in same day dentures. So does Affordable Dentures, and reviews vary.

[howard555]

My teeth were extracted properly.
I received 12 doses of novocaine.
2 per tooth on the front and the other 2 were to the roof of the mouth behind the teeth.
My local dentist is not that sensitive to the feelings of the patient. They go straight to the 1 needle and that is all they are willing to do, to ease the discomfort.

Many of the partials were less than 5 teeth like mine, maybe most of them. Mine had to be made a different way due to tori. Also my lower tori did not allow the normal impression for the lower teeth. The 5 teeth on this partial are straight. The 5 teeth are not perfectly straight when it is in my mouth.

The impressions were made using the same supplies and materials as they use in their own office, because I asked. Same for the partials. The N.C. Dental Society is not going to disgrace the dentist community with shotty work.

These were not dentist, pretending to be periodonist.

And this periodonist disagrees with the local dentist offering me a 20% sliding scale co-pay and oral surgeon. That dentist wants to repair 3 teeth at 20% cost, then have the oral surgeon pull 6 uppers and 2 lowers. (5 of the 6 uppers are already out) Then have the oral surgeon remove the massive tori between my lower teeth. Then the dentist will create an upper and lower partial.
The periodonist thinks the tori, since it can not get any worse than is, be left alone and use 3-4 min implants to secure a full lower bridge.
I tend to agree. To pay a surgeon to remove all that tori and pull 2 good teeth just for a 4 tooth lower partial seems to be shaky. My tori is the worst the dentist has ever seen.
If I can afford it one of these years, I think the minis-lower bridge is the best solution.

Unfortunately the dentsit won't see me again, when I don't like his plan. It will be his plan or no plan. Yes, my co-pay on dental services is 20%, but the plates do not fall under the sliding scale so they are $785 each.
The oral surgeon I see on July 25th will discuss the above plan (pull 3, remove tori at the hospital, dentist to repair 3 teeth, impressions and upper and lower partial) and give me some sort of discount on cost of the surgury.

[howard555]

I spoke to my Uncle again. A friend of his went to Sexton. Not for dentures but for other dental services.
This person's daughter was a dentist. After her Father had been to Sexton, she closely examined the work that was done and she was very impressed.

Sexton and Affordable Dentures both offer same day dentures.
I read somewhere that gums and bones need a good 6 months for healing.
So, any of these same day dentures are not going to be perfect.

I looked at my partial again. Holding it in my hand, the 5 teeth are parallel to the table top and straight. When I put it on, one end looks lower than the other, noticeably. Cause is unknown. But, the left side anchor tooth was the one beside my wisdom tooth. The periodonist had to remove the left side wire because the wisdom tooth was putting too much pressure on the left side anchor tooth. So, the lack of a wire anchor on the left side could be part of it. I hope that is not the case, or cutting the wire off affected the appearance. I guess there was no choice. The clinic was to end at 3pm and I was in the chair at 2pm being fitted with the plate. I was the 4th from the last plate patient, out of 74 persons.
The left anchor wire had to be cut off.

I plan to go to a future MOM clinic for my wisdom tooth and some repairs to 2-3 others.

If anybody goes to one, and you are there for fillings, since there were 50 dentists working on fillings or extractions, don't get scared of the drill, when you hear 25-30 drills going at the same time.

[TheViper]

Greetings,

Sorry for bringing up an somewhat old thread.

I was Google searching some denture post op info and saw this thread was talking about Sexton Dental. I went there for my dentures last Friday after several of my family members had already used them.

My family hadn't complained of their services or dentures so I figured I'd do well to use them too. It's a long drive there from Florida but far cheaper than anything around here.

I have full 32 extractions (4 were surgical - wisdom teeth) and a tori surgery on the lower right jaw plus their top of the line immediate denture. My total was just under $1900. Now some may say you get what you pay for but I'm actually pretty pleased with them so far (OK, it's only been 4 days.).

If possible, ask for Dr. Hester. He's good. Perhaps other people had problems with the other docs but he never pushed me for anything I didn't want and did a damn good job. No dry sockets so far (YES!!!).

I will admit the actual denture insertion personnel (not really sure what you call them) could have done a better job trimming down the uppermost gum of my top denture a little more but I do get a free reline anytime in the next 3 months.

Maybe I (and 3 others in my family) got lucky with our encounters at Sexton but I've heard horror stories at all levels of medical care (from cheap to expensive). My father in law paid (rather, is still paying) $45,000 for his dentures and he's never been all that happy with them.

Best of luck no matter where you go. I just wanted to offer a positive story for Sexton after reading all the negative in this thread.