Why isn't Dental Insurance talked about with HCR?

[LeftyAndProud60]

I don't have Dental Insurance and I know I need a few teeth pulled. It's like I'm just screwed, and have to find a way to deal with it.

[Hugabear]

1. Because they don't care about your fucking teeth

Sorry, but this strikes a sore nerve with me as well. I've never understood why you need separate insurance to cover your teeth and gums. They're just as much as part of your body as your heart, lungs, spleen, liver, stomach, brain, etc. Bad dental hygiene can have a very serious effect on your overall health, and can even kill you in extreme cases.

[LeftyAndProud60]

3. And the prices of dental work w/o insurance is impossible for normal people to afford. nt

[Hugabear]

6. And there's no such thing as a dental emergency room

At least if you're having any other kind of medical emergency, by law the Emergency Room has to treat you regardless of your insurance status or ability to pay. Sure, you may find yourself deep in debt and have your credit ruined for years, but you can at least get treatment. Not so with dental emergencies.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

13. OBSCENE BUSINESS MODEL

[DesertFlower]

17. we're paying $79 a month. there are

deductibles and co-pays.

[itsrobert]

4. Especially since gum diseases can lead to Heart diseases

supposedly

[Hugabear]

7. Absolutely they can

I was watching an episode of "Dr. G: Medical Examiner", there was a case where someone's poor dental health wound up causing them to die from heart disease.

[Dogmudgeon]

14. Infectious endocardidis, mainly

I worked on a study of this about 15 years ago. It's a nasty, subtle, often unrecognized form of heart disease, yet it's so easy to treat.

Other diseases can also be started/amplified by bad teeth. I'm surprised herpesviruses haven't been implicated.

--d!

[Quantess]

9. I read that many ancient egyptians died from tooth decay.

Apparently they liked to eat sweets, and probably lacked dental care.

[JDPriestly]

18. I have head that really bad tooth decay can damage your heart.

If you get an infection in a tooth, the infection can enter your blood stream. I don't know whether that is true, but it makes sense to me.

[Skittles]

22. dental can be a huge part of mental health, too

it is painful to not feel free to smile and can savage your personal life and be detrimental in job interviews

[ChicagoSuz219]

2. I think only the Cadillac plans...

have dental & eye care coverage. You can get separate dental insurance privately and it doesn't cover all that much.

In Chicago, the city hospital (Stroger) will pull them at sliding scale costs. They don't do anything else, though.

[Skittles]

5. because they only like to fuck up one thing at a time

[Hello_Kitty]

11. LOL. DUzy.

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[Cerridwen]

8. It's a hold over from the days during which dental was considered

less-than "medical" care.

Should you ever have some free time, I suggest you search around the archives at Time Magazine. Time, was and is, right leaning. Back about the teens and 20s you'll see the AMA coming out against "socialized" medicine and cutting its teeth on slamming the crap out of non-AMA physicians and practitioners. It'll be combined with the demonization of "socialism" and "communism."

Why does Time Magazine matter? Back when this country was much smaller, Time held a lofty position of catapulting promoting the status quo.

It's quite enlightening.

[Hello_Kitty]

12. Isn't it amazing how the RW loves certain UNIONS.

Those that protect the interests of wealthy white dudes, that is.

[glinda]

10. They make tons of money on Dental. More than cosmetic.

[kas125]

15. The way they've made dental care too expensive for normal

people to afford seems just criminal to me. I need SO much dental work done that it's ridiculous. I can't afford it, so I just wait for my teeth to kill me and every day that I wake up and am not dead yet, I'm surprised and happy...

[DesertFlower]

16. we pay almost as much for

dental insurance as for health care. the coverage is not great. in fact, next year we are not going to renew it.

i have a friend who used to get his dental work done at a dental college.

my niece is studying to be a hygienist. it's 10 bucks to get your teeth cleaned and $2.50 for x-rays.

[SoCalDem]

19. dental and mental health care are often excluded

and if offered, cost a LOT for most people who even try to use the coverage.

I guess the powers that be have decided that teeth and brains are not important:(

[AlienGirl]

20. I have an infected molar, but despite the antibiotics I'm still running a fever

I got a price quote from the local dental school; it was a minimum of $1800 to get a root canal, another $1300 for a crown, and the soonest appointment was in April. The cost is more than I can borrow from my parents.

People can't go into septic shock from an abscessed tooth, can they?

Tucker

[JoeyT]

21. You may need a different antibiotic

or a higher dose of the one you're on, or to be on more than one at a time. For some reason dentists seem to give the antibiotics that are most likely to encounter resistance because they've been overused for decades.

Yes, sepsis can be a danger from a badly infected tooth. It's rare, though.

[Name removed]

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