Dad is on Medi-Cal / Denti-Cal, and needs implants – Dentist Wants $6500.

Hi all,

My dad is extremely low income. He lives on his social security, and has no cash and lots of debt. He is currently on Medicare and Medi-Cal / Denti-Cal. He had some issues with some tooth pain earlier in the year, which ended up being his lower-left wisdom tooth. He got it extracted with no issues. About a month ago, though, he had some pain in the same area…Long story short, the dentist said that the two teeth that were next to his extracted wisdom tooth could not be saved, and needed to be extracted.

The dentist just flat out said that what he needs is not covered by Denti-Cal. I believe he said that he would need a dental implant, which would include bone grafts, a “zirconia” crown, and labor. The total would be $6500, and not covered by Medi-Cal / Denti-Cal. Needless to say, my dad has nowhere near that amount of money. I also am unfortunately unable to help financially at this time.

He already had missing teeth on his right side, and mainly ate / eats on the left side of his mouth, so losing teeth there would be a big deal. The one “silver lining” is that the dentist gave him some antibiotics, so the pain is gone for now…But ultimately, I’m trying to see, first of all, if any of this actually IS covered by Denti-Cal, and whether the dentist maybe just wants to get paid the full rate on the procedure, and not just the lower amount provided by the government (via denti-cal)…My understanding is that Denti-Cal covers what is “medically necessary.” I’m not sure I can think of anything more “medically necessary” than to actually have teeth to be able to eat with.

Would appreciate any thoughts or advice here…Thanks!!