If his mother had been insured.
If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
How about if his mother had taken him to any dentist. They would have treated his emergency case and worked out a reasonable payment schedule.
If the mother had a cellphone or a TV or a car, she could have afforded the $80.
This is absolutely TRUE. I once had to have an emergency Root canal, much more expensive than an extraction. I was only able to come up with 1/4 of the money, but I was able to find a dentist to help me out, and I paid him off over the next few months. An extraction? Those are pretty cheap last I checked, unless the tooth is impacted, like a wisdom tooth or something.
And a heads-up to Freepers like myself who tend to put off dental work. Bad teeth can lead to a host of other problems, including CARDIOVASCULAR disease. Bite the bullet and get those teeth fixed!
A tooth extraction would be a LOT cheaper than $250,000...might have been more than the $80 mentioned...but still. She coulda paid $15 a month for a year or so even...
And why did his brother have all these rotten teeth? Does she not teach her kids to brush them?
My Grandfather put a string around one of my baby teeth that had come loose but wouldn't fall out and pulled it. There was no Dental Insurance in 1966 and I didn't die.
There are Dental Teaching Schools that perform surgeries and routine treatment for minimal cost. Did the mother even LOOK for the alternative to a regular dentist?
Forget a "reasonable payment schedule". IT's an $80 charge. I bet this woman has cable TV.
I’m a dentist and if a kid had an abcess like this one I would probably EXT. the tooth for free. Dentists don’t take M.A. for 2 reasons. #1 40 cents on the dollar for every procedure, so we lose money and materials. Remember unlike our M.D. counterparts we actually run a business, and don’t get Federal funding to so. #2 These patients are the least compliant, don’t show up for appointments, and sue to get something for nothing. This is truely a sad case. I don’t know a dentist that wouldn’t bend over backwards for a child. It is too bad the mother didn’t bring the child in anywhere. Enough calls and someone would have taken care of the poor kid. I feel bad for the kids that have limited access to care.