Aspen Dental

I brought my coupon for a "free exam and x-rays." After that exam, I was brought into an office where a salesperson quoted me $1000 to my insurance, and $1350 out of pocket for the extraction of two teeth and five fillings. I asked for a detailed description of the charges.

Included in the charges were that days exam and xrays, hundreds of dollars for cleanings, and a cancer screening. I asked about why the exam and xrays were being billed to me and my insurance if they were free, why the cleanings were so expensive, why I needed a cancer screening, and whether or not the other charges were comparable to what my insurance company would pay.

I was told that the exam and xrays were only free if I had no insurance, that the cleanings were necessary, and that the dentist explained to me about the cancer screening. I explained that I had no explanation of anything from the dentist, except that I needed two extractions.

The salesperson tried to put pressure on me to agree to the $1350 because she said I was lucky I didn't need any major work, but finally and reluctantly reworked the bill, and handed me another sheet with just the totals. This time it was $1000 from my insurance and $1250 out of pocket, and I was told the cancer screening was removed. I asked for a breakdown of the old bill and the new bill so that I could understand what other differences there were between the two.

The salesperson refused to give me the old breakdown that she had just thrown out because she said it was no longer valid. I looked at the new breakdown and asked why she had applied discounts to the exam and xrays to bring my expense to zero, as well as to everything that was being submitted to insurance, but not to the extractions, for which I was 100% responsible.

I again asked for the previous copy, because I couldn't understand how the total cost only went down by $100 when the cancer exam was removed, a portion of the cleaning seemed to be removed, and my cost of the "free" exams and xrays had gone away. She became aggravated and asked me if I was comfortable with the $1250 and suggested that I could take advantage of a free interest credit card. I told her I was not comfortable with the entire process, and would not be utilizing their services.

This is a very aggressive, sales oriented business operating under the suggestion they are a dental company.