Question:
can someone PLEASE recommend to me a dentist that is in
preferably concord california (contra costa county). I need a
dentist that accepts med i cal or is it called dent i cal? I also
have blue cross. major problem is having a health condition of
colotis and chronic chromes and unable to physically handel pain i
need to find a dentist who uses latest techniques, understands
paranoid problem medical patients and works with other drs. prefer to
find who uses itrous or something to take mind off horirid things.
Answer:
I suggest you cross the Bay to the dental school at UCSF. It is on
Parnasus Ave. They have experts and I believe they take your insurance,
but don't know for sure.
I wish very much that we lived in a country where health care and
dental care were a right and not a luxury for every citizen. We are a
wealthy nation, it is shameful that we have so many people who have to
settle for no care or for less than the best or even mediocre care.
There are other nations that have socialized medicine, and I hope the
U.S. will follow suit soon.
Let me understand what you are saying here...so a person who is
disabled (and using welfare dollars) has no right to good treatment?
Heck, why not just say a person who is disabled (and using welfare
dollars) also has no right to sterilized instruments, local
anesthetics, etc. Or take it one step further, and say that the
welfare dollars shouldn't pay for any treatment whatsoever....just
give the welfare bucks to the dentists because they are such good
people, and the hell with the patients, let them pull their own teeth.
After all, there is "us" and "them" and "they" don't really have any
right to occupy space on this earth if they aren't earning at least a
six-figure income, do they?
Maybe when you feel contempt instead of empathy for the patients, it's
time for a little break.
Oh, and DocP? I hope so much that you do find a good dentist who will
work with you to allay your fears and to make the treatment as
pain-free as possible.
Don't pay attention to those on this group who look upon you with
contempt because you are disabled. Most of us understand, it's not
your fault. And you deserve good dental care just like any other
person, whole or disabled.
No actually, I am simply pointing out that you cannot have every conceivable
fancy facet of dental treatment, but pay the office less than the cost of
sterilizing the room and instruments. There tiers to everything in life.
Medical and dental care too. If someone needs to have dental care on
welfare dollars, they need to understand that they will not get the most
caring, high tech. office which spends a full hour or more just to clean
their teeth, and always sits down to explain every procedure and discuss all
the details. It is economically impossible. We could be like some
countries with socialized medicine and pay 50% income tax? Or,,,,,,,, we
can just accept the fact that low pay will equal barely adequate care, and
higher pay (I did not say overpriced) will buy better care.
In my area, there is hardly any dental offices which choose to accept
Medicaid dental payments. Basically, only the "dental mills" in the
"cheaper rent" districts can afford to do that level of care.
I wish money was not an issue in obtaining quality care, but lets face it,
money is a big part of it. Until landlords will accept $500 a month for
2,000 sq ft office space, and utilities charge $50 a month to heat that
office, and electric bills are only $35, and staff will work for $4 an hour,
and taxation drops down to 20%, dentistry will not be high end level of care
for Medicaid dollars.
If an office with one dentist and one RDH have an hourly overhead of $175
per hour (before doctor gets any profit) and they see two Medicaid
restorations (paid at $35 each) and one Medicaid cleaning (paid at $40), how
many hours must they work to pay all their bills? [I have not looked at
Medicaid reimbursement levels in 8-10 yrs so don't hate me if my figures are
way off]
Socializing care will not solve the problem unless funding is created first.
