I have snap on dentures. I often have to replace the male retention caps. At this point, I am having trouble affording even the basics in this economy. Last week I had to choose between food and replacing my retention caps. My dentist charges $25 per cap. So a set costs me $100. I just can’t do this anymore. I looked online and you can get four for $20 for the whole set. That is quite a markup. I tried to order them online, but you have to be a dentist for them to send them to you. Is there any way for me to get these?
Larry
Dear Larry,
You have three good options here. First, would just be to talk to your dentist directly. Let him know your situation. While it is true that dentists need to mark up some things to help with overhead, this will be such a minor boost to his overhead that he should be willing to work with you on this. If he doesn’t, here are two other things you can try.
Call around to some other dental offices and talk to the staff. Most dentists and the people who work for them are compassionate. It’s normally the staff that orders these and not the dentist directly anyway. They just use his information on the orders. Start with dentists who offer affordable dental implants. They are more willing to work with people on tight budgets.
If both of those things fail, I looked on Ebay. They do sell them and some of the overseas sellers do not require you to be a dentist to purchase them. The only downside to this option is you’ll have to know how to pop them into your denture as well as exactly what you need. There are varying strengths and resistance on these items.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.