paying for extensive and expensive dental work - monthly payment plan?

filmifan

Just wondering what the standard procedure is to pay for extensive dental work done - costing anywhere from 3,000 euros and up, for example.

Do all (or most) dental clinics (in particular, the specialist clinics) have a payment plan option (i.e., 150 to 200 a month)?

Or is that the exception, rather than the normal way of paying?

davo10

filmifan wrote: »

Just wondering what the standard procedure is to pay for extensive dental work done - costing anywhere from 3,000 euros and up, for example.

Do all (or most) dental clinics (in particular, the specialist clinics) have a payment plan option (i.e., 150 to 200 a month)?

Or is that the exception, rather than the normal way of paying?

It depends on what you are having done. If it is orthodontics where you will be seeing the dentist/orthodontist regularly over a 1-2 year period, payment plans are common.

If on the other hand it is fillings/cosmetic work/implants, you will have to pay at each session and have paid in full when treatment is finished. Many clinics (including my own) ask for half payment at the beginning of treatment if expensive laboratory work is involved because the lab will bill me for the work irrespective of whether the patient has paid or not. The last thing we want is to be stuck with a lab fee for thousands and then the patient won't/can't pay.

A lot of patients take out credit union loans for dental treatment, this allows you to pay for the treatment then pay back the loan over a longer period.

filmifan

Hi Davo10 - Thanks for responding.

It's definitely not orthodontics.

I need periodontal work done first, for a Maryland bridge (I think) that is now falling away from the receding gum.

After that, I'll need to get that replaced and that gap filled in - either by dentures or implants or a bridge. I was told by my local dentist that the jawbone may need a graft/augmentation before any replacement 'teeth' can be put in.

Is periodontal work considered cosmetic, then? I'm not being a smart-arse by asking this...I honestly don't know if that falls under the category of cosmetic treatment.

So, if it's not cosmetic, do all (or most) dental clinics have a payment plan for their patients who require extensive and expensive work done (periodontic and then implants/bridge work)?

Thanks in advance for any additional advice/help.

davo10

filmifan wrote: »

Hi Davo10 - Thanks for responding.

It's definitely not orthodontics.

I need periodontal work done first, for a Maryland bridge (I think) that is now falling away from the receding gum.

After that, I'll need to get that replaced and that gap filled in - either by dentures or implants or a bridge. I was told by my local dentist that the jawbone may need a graft/augmentation before any replacement 'teeth' can be put in.

Is periodontal work considered cosmetic, then? I'm not being a smart-arse by asking this...I honestly don't know if that falls under the category of cosmetic treatment.

So, if it's not cosmetic, do all (or most) dental clinics have a payment plan for their patients who require extensive and expensive work done (periodontic and then implants/bridge work)?

Thanks in advance for any additional advice/help.

You are going to me asked to pay for this type of work at the time of treatment. Credit union is your best bet.

filmifan

Thanks for letting me know. Can't say I'm happy about it, though.

davo10

filmifan wrote: »

Can't say I'm happy about it, though.

Why?

filmifan

No offense meant towards you or your response, Davo10. I appreciate your letting me know and that you're
passing on helpful and useful information.

I guess the reason I'm less than overjoyed because I was hoping to avoid a loan altogether. As in: paperwork/loan application/approval and it being an owed debt.

But if needs must, then I'll do what I have to do.

Thanks again for the info.