I just about lived on the phone for 2 months trying to find a dentist to accept my type of insurance I am a ticking time bom on the back of a molar its chippinng away.  tried calling one dr, after another NO WE DON"T take your type of insurance.   Ijust got done telling mom damned if I do damned if I don't,   when I was not living with the parents I had no insurance at all so I made payments instead that was easier but thats when I worked 3 jobs to keep my hubby at the time living the high life by sitting behind the computer to start off titling consulating job for car titles then we got top notch medical insurance now if you have the state and medicare crap they don't want to even toch you but when I had blue cross oh come on in treat great low income Im screwed and a woman to boot so Im totally angry with the medical system they treat people with good insurance Oh man come to front of the line while those lower class people canstand there for a month longer I don't really get it at all...

Thanks for letting blow off steam the heck is wrong with this picture...lol

Sorry to hear about your dental problems -- I know what a pain those are.  May I make the suggestion of getting a list of providers?  Rather than calling around and asking dozens of dentists if they take your insurance, you could get a provider list that tells you who takes your coverage and you can figure out which one you want to go to.  Provider lists are updated yearly, so whatever list you get should be 99% accurate.  And every insurance company, whether it's state, HMO, PPO, whatever has a list of providers.  Sometimes it's posted online, too, making it even easier!

I had to do this recently as my insurance provider changed and I need a new Gyn.  Rather than calling around to see who took my insurance, I looked at my list of providers and called a couple of places to see who I wanted to go to.  When I called I simply confirmed that they are still accepting my insurance; they all are.  So now I have my choice of who I see.

thanks sunshine,just irked me had to open my big trap you advice Im doing at this time down loading it up on the hard disk I have dsl and could be on the phone but thanks from know on in stead of calling them got the disk ,this just isn't me lots of pople have or had gone threw this and with time they don't really have you see I have the time but what irks me what about the child that needs care now not later or someone waiting lets say 4 hours in the er they got insurance but not the right kind and they are last on the list then the child sufferes and the person in the er hope to god nothing happens medically but they are in the worst of pain when what they started up with???

But Im thanking you agasin at least your advise is alot clearer then what I had got lately.   And have one heck of a night...:0)

Cindy, I'm so sorry about all of that!  I hope Sunshinetreva's advice really helps.  I'll be praying for the whole situation.

I can totally empathize with you. I know how bad dental problems can be. I hope you get the help you need soon.

I don't know if anyone else saw the article, but yahoo news posted yesterday or the day before about a survey drs took and more than 3/4 of them (2000 surveyed, I think) want to quit or cut back.  They are overworked with too many patients and tired.  Honestly, I feel bad for some dr's and I totally get what this thread is about.  There are some dr's that will only take the best forms of insurance and refuse to work with anything else, so I think for them their caseload is easier.  Where I live there are two main forms of insurance (three if you count state insurance); we mostly have optima or anthem.  And most of the doctors will take one insurance or the other, but not both.  However, the doctors that take HMO insurance often take both types and usually have longer wait times to get an appt. and longer wait times at the dr's office.  Again, this is just an observation, but I think that more people can afford or are provided the "lesser" insurance plans and therefore the dr's taking them have higher caseloads.

I often wish we had government-provided health care, but I'm not entirely sure that's the answer either -- though, truthfully, I would love to see our country step up in these regards.  I think maybe if dr's / health care systems / etc. were forced to work with all insurance companies, it might make things easier for patients to get appointments.

Are you anywhere near a state university with a college of dentistry, or can you get a ride if you need one?  The dental colleges will do your work for free but the work is done by senior students under the supervision of a professor/dentist.  Might be worth a try, and certainly beats pulling a tooth with pliers. Some hospitals affiliated with the university system will also do dental surgery, but you have to call around, and get a few more runarounds to find out.

Dear ALl, Both of the dental colleges in San Francisco CHARGE on a sliding scale, but way beyond my means, for dental work, students under supervision.  One is a branch of University of California, San Francisco, & the other is private.  Ugh!  Yours in Him, Deb  PS I get my dentistry through Medicaid/Denti-Cal.

we have a great Dentist he will barter for dental work DH recently had work done for a quarrter of beef .. he did cleanings  for Chickens . we have seveal buffalo he did two root canels for my DH for Buffalo roast and burgers .

Sunshine just did today and am getting it looked at finally but need to wait its a school but case load for now which is understanable.
But  what erks me some people abuse  insurance and just take advantage of everything but now Im going in soon and man makes me feel better, thanks sunshine...

Cindy