Generally, dentistry is very expensive in USA. Some people consider going to Russia to get something serious done, like crowns. There are 2 types of dental insurance, PPO which is only for employees (like Caltech staff) and HMO which can be provided for individuals (like Caltech students).
I have found that the quality of service provided by PPO doctors is generally better that those with HMO. That's because of the way insurance companies pay dentists. With PPO, part of the price is paid by client, other is paid by an insurance company and there's yearly limit of about 1-2 thousand dollars after which you pay up front (out of pocket).
With HMO, the insurance company has a contract with dental office, under which the office is required to take care of a certain number of clients at reduced rates. In return, the office gets some small monthly payments from the insurance company. Hence the office gains money when it does nothing and loses when they actually do work on you. For example, PPO doctor had plenty of appontment time for me and I could go the next morning, for HMO dentist I had to wait for my appointment for 3 weeks.
X-Rays of all teeth are quite common in USA as opposed to Russia so don't be surprised if dentist wants you to do Xrays of all teeth. It's good to get X-Rays done at HMO office for free (if you have HMO) then you could possibly take them wherever you want.
2005. Compiled by Ivan Grudinin with help of Russian club email-list subscribers: Sasha S., Violana N., Andrey M., Dmitry K., Isabella K., Ulyana D., Mark B., Sebastian B., Rimma N., Alexander P., Iouri S., Dmitry K.
=========================================================== Dentists recommended by russian maillist subscribers: ------------------------------------- 4 votes: L.F. Perkins DDS Inc General dentistry 837 South Fair Oaks Ave, Suite 203 Pasadena (626)793-2107 Seems to be good doctor. Accepts PPO insurance (cigna dental, which is HMO, won't work), may be more expensive than others, crown is $1000 flat if you have no insurance. ------------------------------------------- 3 votes: Arkady Tsibel, 181 N. Hill Ave. (Walnut St.) Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 796-0313 PPO insurance (cigna dental won't work) ------------------------------------------------ 1 vote: Dr. Chu. http://www.convenientdentistry.com/ ------------------------------------------- 1 vote: Dr. Israel Navarro at Starbright Dental, 80 N. Lake Ave, Suite 103, Pasadena ------------------------------------------ 1 vote 4522 Indianola Way, La Canada, phone: 818 790-4800 some chineese guy. PPO -------------------------------------------------- 1 vote: Irving Meeker and his office in Pasadena is at 200 E. Del Mar Blvd. - phone: 626792-6344 ----------------------------------------------- 1 ANTI-vote: california smile, dr. susan leung ----------------------------------------- =========================================================== Some other good rated dentists probably accepting HMO Wu, Thomas H 1103 S San Gabriel Ste A San Gabriel , CA (626) 288-6181 accepts HMO, difficult to schedule an appointment ---------------------------------------------- Dr. Ken Mak DDS (626) 793-6175 700 E Walnut St Pasadena, CA 91101 ------------------------------------ James W. Tsai, DDS 1302 N Altadena Dr.; Pasadena; (626) 797-6778
