Question:
I'm having 4 porcelain crowns installed at a cost of $2440. Time was
about 2 hours prep and maybe 1 hour more is needed to cement, adjust
and complete. Haven't had them installed yet, but I want to work out a
payment plan and need to know what a reasonable downpayment would be to
cover lab costs?
Answer:
usually for a down payment 1/2-3/4 the service fee is due before the
work is out sourced to a lab.
I'm sure the front desk is the place to work this out. Every office
has different policies, and what might be acceptable to me may well be
unacceptable to your dentist.
BTW, if the total fee for 4 all-ceramic crowns is $2440, you are
getting a very modest fee!
Yes, it may be modest, but I still need to know the approximate lab
fees. Do you have an idea what that might be? I can do the rest of the
math.
No. Lab fees, like dental fees vary widely. In any case, what YOU
think may be a "reasonable" downpayment to cover lab fees may not be
reasonable to them--unless of course the fee was presented to you and
they specifically told you they want an up-front payment to cover lab
expenses. This is not general practice. Also, the dentist may not know
what the lab fee will be, and given the recent wild fluctuations of the
price of precious metals any estimate may be wrong by the time the
dentist gets billed by the lab.
I don't think that the approximate lab fees would affect what the
payment plan could be. Each dental office has different costs and
different payment policies.
I can't tell the local grocery store how much to accept as a down
payment based upon what I think the grocer paid the farmer.
The fact that the cost of your crowns is so very low at only $2440
might possibly mean that the dental office is working on a very narrow
margin. Many businesses with narrow margins have an inherent need for
full immediate payment as they have little resource to meet their
expenses and obligations.
As Dr. Steve mentions above, each dental office has to set its own
policy. I'm surprised that the financial arrangements weren't finalized
before the treatment even started, as that is pretty standard for
today's economy.
