I feel like my dentist is up to shady stuff

I have always been very skeptical of my wife's dentist's billing practices, and need some help finding out if something shady is going on here.

My wife has Delta Dental and has been going to this dentist for ages. They convinced her to get invisalign. They had her sign a financial agreement in which they said the total cost of the treatment would be $4,800 of which they estimated insurance would cover $1,888.

We paid $2,912 out of pocket at the start of treatment, and received a statement from the dentist's office for several things associated with imaging and cleaning. These included charges respectively of $157, $145, $109, $181 and the $4,800 for orthodontic treatment.

Today in the mail I received a statement from Delta Dental which listed what the dentist ACTUALLY submitted. The charges for $157, $145, $109, $181 were all there as expected. However, they ONLY submitted an orthodontic treatment cost of $3,416 which Delta lowered to the maximum contract amount of $1,884 and ageed to cover the contract max of 50%. Meaning we owe $942 on the treatment, but previously paid $2,912. Am I missing something here? Why are they telling us the cost is $4,800, but telling the insurance the cost was $3,416. And are they allowed to charge us more than their contract with Delta Dental permits them to charge?

submitted by /u/broncosmang
[comments]