# Man, talking about charges for services rendered



## DaveInGA (Oct 15, 2010)

This week, I had a couple things happen.

Monday, I thought I had a sinus infection. Went to the doctor, got a shot and a couple prescriptions for antibiotics and pain drugs. Total time involved w/doc: about 15 minutes. Charge to me: $85.00 office visit and about $150.00 for drugs.

Thursday, I took my truck for my mechanic to perform a 100,000 mile service. This was an extensive amount of work on my particular vehicle as you must remove the fuel injection to get to the plugs. He changed plugs and boots (tune up), flushed out the fuel injection system while he had it off for the tuneup, changed the transmission fluid/filter, added a quart of transmission fluid additive/boost (can't remove all the old fluid in my tranny), changed all air and fuel filters, changed belts, hoses, flushed radiator, installed premium plugs and radiator fluid. Greased everything that needed greasing. Charge to me: $576.00 - I gave him $580.00 cash and he gave me back 20 bucks as a discount for cash.

Friday, I go to the dentist because my face is swelling and I'm not getting any better. After an radiograph/X-ray, he sends me to an oral surgeon. After a full face x-ray, the oral surgeon talks to me about what he wants to do (even after the talk, I realize now I had no idea what he was really gonna do), he has his assistant set things up and I get called back. She attaches the nitrous oxide/oxygen mix and gives me a minute or two to breath some of it up, then comes back to check me out. She lets Oral Surgeon know I'm ready. He comes in, gives me two quick shots of numbing agent, then gets down to business. He takes a scalpel, slices open my gum above the tooth while she sucks out the pus and blood. This hurts like all H$%^&*^). He apologizes for the pain, explaining sometimes with abscesses the numbing agents don't work as he's wrapping up and he's done and gone. She brings me out from underneath the nitrous, gives me some instructions and a second or two later, I'm out the door. Total time involved with any of the doctor's staff - 10 minutes. Total time with doc - 7 minutes, including the two minutes he's injecting and cutting. I was thankful he was done so quickly. Charges to me: $625.00. Filling the prescriptions he gave me cost another $60.00.

On the plus side, my pain is significantly reduced, I've got some new and hopefully more appropriate antibiotics, my swelling is draining out. I ate some lunch okay and I'm generally feeling like I'm on the mend. He gave me some pain meds, but right now, I don't feel like I need it. Some time will pass and I'll know for sure.

After all of these "surprise" bills, I may have to reconsider use of plywood in my build. This little dab of nothing ate up $1480.00 like it was nothing. Dad nab.

Thank God it's Friday. Maybe the weekend will be better.


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## Quackrstackr (Oct 15, 2010)

That $85 doctor's visit is a bargain compared to what they charge you around here.

I've had 2 now in the last 3 months that were $130 and 2 that were closer to $200 for just walking through the door.


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## fender66 (Oct 15, 2010)

WOW Dave....

Hope you feel better soon, both physically and financially.

PS...I hate dentist visits


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## Jim (Oct 15, 2010)

I hate those kind of bills.


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## Captain Ahab (Oct 15, 2010)

DIY baby!


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## Ranchero50 (Oct 15, 2010)

So what did they actually do for the abscess other than lance it? Dental abscesses are caused by bacteria getting at the nerve and other goop inside your tooth and the infection goes up the root to the bone. Just got the first half done on mine Thursday morning and the dentist did a root canal, basicly drilled a hole in the crown to expose the nerves in the roots, then used a rotary file to clean out the tooth, filled it with disinfectant and finally filled it back up. $991 for services, after insurance it was around $180 to me. Now they need to put a crown on the cap and I'm out of insurance so it's waiting until January.

Jamie


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## Quackrstackr (Oct 15, 2010)

How do you get "out of insurance?"


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## MadCatX (Oct 15, 2010)

Maxed out for the year, most of your dental insurances arent that much for a calendar year.

I just love the rotary file..makes me want to slam my head into a granite counter top.


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## poolie (Oct 15, 2010)

Dang Dave... the least they could do is point a gun at you when they hand you the bill.


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## DaveInGA (Oct 15, 2010)

Ranchero50 said:


> So what did they actually do for the abscess other than lance it? Dental abscesses are caused by bacteria getting at the nerve and other goop inside your tooth and the infection goes up the root to the bone.



Well, the tooth this one was in was one the dentist had performed a root canal and a crown on about two months back. So about all they did is lance, suction the goop and spray in some what I think was antibiotic. He also wrote a prescription for another antibiotic and some high dollar mouth rinse. Nasty stuff, takes all the taste out of your mouth.

I'm still pretty swollen on the one side and I've taken some antihistamine in addition to the antibiotics in the hope the swelling will go down. I made a mistake and took a nap on the bad side, so it's swollen up more, with the fluid from the "good" side moving to the bad side. I'm hoping it'll go down soon.


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## DaveInGA (Oct 15, 2010)

poolie said:


> Dang Dave... the least they could do is point a gun at you when they hand you the bill.



I think I would of felt better if they had. If I had known all he was going to do was lance it, I would have written down the antibiotic he mentioned and lanced it myself. He doped me up with laughing gas and some numbing agent and then just cut me with a scalpel. Personally, I could have done that for myself a whole lot cheaper and if I get into this situation again, I'll get my antibiotics from my doctor and do the lancing myself. Lots cheaper.

BTW, I work in a hospital as a Respiratory Therapist, so I've seen enough I'm real cynical about doctor's motivations and patient care at this point. For them, it's a business and they want to make money like anybody else. I feel it's my right to try and keep some of that money in my own pocket.


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## Zum (Oct 15, 2010)

Better days are coming.
Trouble only happens in threes.


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## brmurray (Oct 15, 2010)

DaveInGA said:


> poolie said:
> 
> 
> > Dang Dave... the least they could do is point a gun at you when they hand you the bill.
> ...




Hey Dave I do too!! Nice to another RT is on here!!


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## DaveInGA (Oct 16, 2010)

brmurray said:


> DaveInGA said:
> 
> 
> > poolie said:
> ...




Well I'll be. small world isn't it?


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## Deadmeat (Oct 16, 2010)

I feel your pain (no pun intended). I had a mouth full of old amalgam fillings that I've had for decades, and they all seemed to go bad at once. Since my job takes me to some third world countries from time to time and dental care there is often non-existent, my dentist recommended replacing them. In the past two months or so I've had three crowns put on and five amalgams replaced with composite resin fillings. You don't even want to know what that cost.


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## DaveInGA (Oct 16, 2010)

Deadmeat said:


> I feel your pain (no pun intended). I had a mouth full of old amalgam fillings that I've had for decades, and they all seemed to go bad at once. Since my job takes me to some third world countries from time to time and dental care there is often non-existent, my dentist recommended replacing them. In the past two months or so I've had three crowns put on and five amalgams replaced with composite resin fillings. You don't even want to know what that cost.



I know it's outrageously expensive. Makes me wonder why it's easier to get into dental school than medical school. They seem to make more money from what I can tell.


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## lbursell (Oct 16, 2010)

Anybody have a yearning for the days when when your barber was also your doctor and leeches were the treatment of choice ? :wink: You could have all the work done that you needed in exchange for a chicken.

Haircut = Muck out the barn ( or in today's terms - Wash my car)
Extract a tooth or lance a boil = Pail of milk
Fill a cavity = a kitten to catch the mice you're living with
Crown / Bridge Work = One chicken
Any form of surgery = One fatted calf
Pain killer = First born child

PS - I truly hate going to the dentist.


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## Deadmeat (Oct 16, 2010)

"Anybody have a yearning for the days when when your barber was also your doctor and leeches were the treatment of choice ?" In some of the countries where I sometimes find myself, that's pretty much still the case.


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## Jim (Oct 16, 2010)

My parents are from Greece. In the "village" my mother grew up in, the lady that gave medicine shots to the goats and sheep would also give shots to the villagers.


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## Deadmeat (Oct 16, 2010)

When I was in Macedonia a few years back, the local veterinarian also served as the midwife.


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## Captain Ahab (Oct 16, 2010)

DaveInGA said:


> Makes me wonder why it's easier to get into dental school than medical school. They seem to make more money from what I can tell.



Neither of those statements are correct - although there is more competition to get into medical school so that might make it more difficult for an "average" undergrad applicant


And MD still make more money on average


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## Hanr3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Actually family doctors are 10th on the list. 

Medical and dental specialists top the list of the highest paid professions, as they hold numbers one through eight of the 25 highest earning jobs as well as five other rankings on the 2004 list. Anesthesiologists are number one, internists number two and obstetricians and gynecologists number three of the top professional earners in the United States. Oral surgeons take the fourth spot, orthodontists the fifth and prosthodontists the sixth. Psychiatrists are listed as the seventh of the highest paid professions, while surgeons are ranked as the eighth. The average 2004 income for these eight professions is more than $145,600 US dollars (USD).

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-highest-paid-professions-in-the-united-states.htm

Glad to hear your doing better.


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## lswoody (Oct 16, 2010)

DaveInGA said:


> This week, I had a couple things happen.
> 
> Monday, I thought I had a sinus infection. Went to the doctor, got a shot and a couple prescriptions for antibiotics and pain drugs. Total time involved w/doc: about 15 minutes. Charge to me: $85.00 office visit and about $150.00 for drugs.
> 
> ...




When it rains it pours!!! Hopefully next week will be better.


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