Well, I DO have dental insurance but I DON'T have the nerve to go to the dentist. I'm one of those that would rather get shots all day long than go to the dentist. I don't know why I'm so afraid of them, I've never had a bad experience but I almost cry just thinking about going. And I agree, it sounds like Dr. R is a true gem to this community! Kudos to him and his staff for what they do.
I've thought about this long and hard and I feel really bad that people who want to take care of their teeth can't because of the cost. I'm in the process of establishing the BrushAndFloss Foundation. We're filling out the mountains of paperwork to establish this not for profit organization. Its goal will be to provide FREE dental care for those hard working families above the need of Medicaid who can't afford essential care. We've been in the process of establishing this for the past year. There will be an application process and all the work will be offered by staff members of mine who volunteer and I will pay for the materials, supplies and the facilities. I'll keep y'all posted on this. In the meantime, I am offering a 4042.com special......Anyone who mentions 4042.com and prints off this posting can have a ROUTINE cleaning and polishing, tongue scraping, 4 bitewing x rays, a comprehensive exam of your needs and an oral cancer screening exam for $59. Here's the deal, if you haven't had a cleaning for a long time, you may need a deep cleaning. A deep cleaning consists of 2-4 visits with anesthesia, or a full mouth debridement and fine scale. This is not included in the $59 visit. This is not an attempt to get y'all in here to tell you that you need to come back and have a deep cleaning, my hope is that none of you has any cavities and do great with just a routine cleaning. However, it's our responsibility to tell you what you need and we will do that. All of my staff members make the same amount of money regardless of your needs so they have NO incentive to tell you something untrue - I purposely set my offices up this way so you can be assured my employees see human being not dollar signs. If you come in and actually need a deep cleaning, we'll let you know that, but we'll still do all the other services I mentioned above for $59. I want those of you who take advantage of this offer to send me a private message and tell me about your experience, good or bad. I think this will help all of you and it will also help us become a better office. Thanks, Michael Riccobene
That Foundation sounds like an excellent idea,if I qualify I'd love to come in sometime in the near future.
Wow, just wow..I'm so scared to go, but I have always heard wonderful things, I do need a tooth pulled bad, and I do have insurance. I keep putting off calling. I really need to get off my butt about this. I had a lot of expensive work done 15 years or less and all of it has just gone bad, went through so much pain, I just didn't want to go back. But, I will be calling to set up a time so I can get this tooth taken care of. I guess go from there after that, cause I need lot's and lot's of work done.. thanks for taking time out of your day to post on here. Sheri
Let me just say that I used to dread the dentist. The staff @ Dr. R's office made my visits very comfortable and easy. I have a number of crowns and other junk in my mouth and my visits have been great
I still haven't been to the dentist since mine retired over a year ago. I went to the same dentist for over 30 years and I'm scared of changing. I do need a cleaning and some xrays but my daughter says I have to wait and let her clean them at school this fall.
Yes he is!! DH & I LOVE Dr R.!!! He has always taken really good care of our dental needs and he truly cares about his patients.
OKay I feel as I must post my experience with the Riccobene team. First, we have decent insurance. My teenage daughter has been going to them for years. I have been extremely happy until my last experience. I have absorption issues due to the removal of my stomach for health reasons. My teeth have just started cracking and falling apart. I went to a Ricc. office to have them checked and was told I needed a "plan" and was told this plan would be about $30,000. and to sign my plan. I don't have $30,000.00 and when I said this I was told this plan would take effect over the next few years with my insurance, yadda, yadda yadda. Big turnoff for me. So A month or so later I have an infection in a tooth and go back to the office. McNeely(?) I think pulls the tooth which could not be saved and does a wonderful job. Very happy. 3 months later another infection settle in to another tooth, call and make an appt to have it pulled, go back to office and another Dr (not McNeely) looks and says yes we can pull the tooth. I am prepared, she comes in, has a terrible time with getting tooth out, and then once it is out and she says she is done, I reach up and she had removed the wrong tooth. When I said something the dippy assistant said "no, we looked at your plan and this one was suppose to come out!" Ummm....screw the plan, the one you took out didn't hurt, wasn't infected or bothering me! So Dr comes in , says the can remove the correct tooth, prepares me and removes the tooth. Of course when its over, I am expected to pay for both extractions, which really ****ed me off as I was not financially prepared to and let them know that they screwed up, but it didn't matter. So I paid for both extractions and needless to say this was about 6 months ago and they recently called to tell me the ins. underpaid and I owe them $1.94. I don't think so!!!!!!
my son thought he had a dentist appt the other day. he cried when he found out he didnt. he really loves going to this dentist office!!! DB's wife
I think this was clearly a communication issue. If all your teeth are "cracking and falling apart" as you stated, chances are you had multiple issue going on. I've had a patient come in and tell me with no question that their canine was killing them and they wanted it pulled. After evaluating the patient, I determined it was his wisdom tooth that was the culprit and explained to the patient that is was referred pain. Well, he looked at me and said, "I trust you", and let me take out his wisdom tooth. The next time he saw me he thanked me profusely for not taking out his front tooth as he had asked. Since the pain disappeared, he realized the wisdom tooth was the real problem. My point is, that as doctors we are trained to evaluate many factors and come up with a "plan" for the patient. Obviously we take into account what the patient says and the symptoms they feel, but a diagnosis is more complex than that. If they call you for the $1.94, tell them I said you don't have to pay it, although I'm surprised because no letters or calls should go out for under $5. As far as the $30,000 plan, that is the most I've ever heard of. It probably consists of crowning all your teeth, some root canals, and even some implants. If you want to minimize loosing teeth or dentures, that may be your only alternative. There are cheaper alternatives that should be part of your plan, and if we didn't do that (again surprised) I apologize. I'd be happy to discuss that with you if you pm me and I'm able to look up your account. I appreciate all the feedback y'all have given me and look forward to seeing many of you at the office. Michael Riccobene, DDS
