So you got a mailer coupon from a dentist that says they
only charge $49.95 for a regular cleaning & $19.95 for an exam &
x-ray. Seems kind of a cheap gimmick? And a lot of the times it might be. It just depends of on the practice. If it’s a mature practice you might want to
question why they are giving away services.
Usually, it’s a loss leader. Something
they use to get you in and pressure you into other dental procedures. If
it’s a new practice, then providing discounted services is one of the few
methods a new practice has to introduce itself to the surrounding community, no
different than a new restaurant trying to showcase its menu.
Dental costs will vary widely. With respect to continuing care (on your next 6 month
visit), a teeth cleaning really depends where you go and the quality of the
practice you see. The charge is going to
be somewhere around $65 to $89, but it can be more if there’s a need to do a
full mouth root scaling. Often dental insurance will
cover some or all of this cost for a specific number of cleanings per year. The exam is $45 to $55 and the 4 basic
bite wing x-rays are around $59 to $72.
Depending on your insurance this might be covered anywhere from 60 to
100% after a small deductible is met.
Periodic X-rays ($32 -$135) are needed to see if any problems are
developing inside the teeth or around the jaw bone, and are generally required
before cleaning the teeth of a new patient (which is why some practices offer
coupons to defray the initial cost of a first visit). These are also often
covered by dental insurance.
The main goal of professional teeth cleaning is to prevent
gum disease, which is the primary cause of tooth loss. Dental hygiene is
imperative, and cleaning your teeth is the first step toward their long term
preservation. In a standard
cleaning, a dental hygienist (working under a dentist's supervision) removes
soft plaque and hard tartar (mineralized plaque that builds up on the teeth and
can only be removed with professional instruments) from above and below the gum
line on all the teeth. The process requires one office visit and usually takes
about 30 to 60 minutes.
The more extensive deep cleaning process called scaling and
root planing is done by quadrants (upper right, upper left, lower right, lower
left) at a cost of about $100 -$400 per quadrant depending on the
severity of the problem or $400 -$1,600 for the entire mouth,
but more often than not, if the mouth is in such poor health the dentist will
refer the patient out to a periodontist. Most dental insurance includes these
procedures.
Again, the goal is a healthy mouth which an integral part of
your overall health. Oh, and by the way,
just because you had your teeth cleaned professionally, the jobs not done. You have to do your part and brush and floss
daily if you want to keep them. If you
have additional questions, feel free to email or call our office. Our goal here is to create an informed
patient.
Novy Scheinfeld, DDS, PC
5471 Bells Ferry Road, Suite 200
Acworth, GA 30102
770-928-7281
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