Mobile Dental Care
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007Mobile Dental Care
Question: I have read your ad that you have in the Senior Living News on Portable Dental Services and have some questions about what you provide. My father is at home with my mother who watches him. He had some health issues that has kept him from getting out of the house and now he has a need for a dentist to come to the home. He has developed a tooth ache which comes and goes. I just recently saw the ad a couple of weeks ago and am interested in more information. Your phone number is on the ad, but thought it would be easier to write you. Could you please explain what you do and how you do it?
Thank You, J. Peterson
I have been treating patients with mobile dentistry in the comfort of their own home for about 5 years now. We use specially made portable dental equipment. Most of it has been designed for the military, but has been modified for our particular use. I have redesigned a portable dental chair that is very comfortable for the patient. We also have the ability to take x-rays and view them instantly on our computer using our digital x-ray system. I utilize a small, but powerful light mounted on my magnifying glasses to see what I do. Our portable mobile dental unit provides suction, air/water spray and vacuum just like you would expect to find at our Shelby township office setting.
With mobile dentistry, we can provide all of the services we do in our office including, x-rays, examination, extractions, root canals, fillings, cleanings, porcelain crowns, dentures. Our fees for mobile dental care are the same as those at our office. The only additional charge is our home visit fee which can range from $90-$120 per visit depending on the distance we have to travel. Since we individualize the necessary dental treatment plans, we don’t know what treatment is necessary until we do a thorough exam and x-rays. Because we only see 2-4 patients per day and have a limited amount of time devoted to mobile dentistry, we do not participate with Medicaid or Medicare. Also, because we provide this service only on Thursdays we are limited to traveling to Oakland and Macomb counties.
Before any dental treatment is started, we will provide you a written estimate of the recommended home dental care. We are well aware that most of what we do is to eliminate pain or just patch up things. For those who want cosmetic dentistry or complex restorative dental treatment, we can also provide this. In fact, we extracted a tooth and placed a dental implant for a patient before! The decision is always left up to the patient and family whether we do some, all or none of the recommended home dental treatment. This is also why we request that the person in charge of your father be present during the first home dentistry visit. This way we can show you the x-rays and discuss candidly what is recommended. We do offer financing, payment through major credit cards, check or cash. We do ask that payment is made in full when the home dentistry services are provided. We will bill your insurance and take care of the paperwork as a courtesy.
Whether we see your dad in his bed or in our dental chair depends on whether he can be moved, but we are very accommodating in what we do and how we provide the home dental care. Mobile dentistry requires great flexibility on our part without compromising the quality of the dental care.
People are usually quite amazed when they see all we can do in their home. Patients are usually referred to us for mobile dental care by home health agencies, hospice, or other avenues, but we would be happy to talk to you specifically about your father and what his needs are, Feel free to contact Sande at (586)873-5567 or visit our web site at www.TheGentleDentist.com/mobile_dentistry.htm.
