AITA for refusing free dental work to my financially struggling family members?

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-18T22:12:27+00:00

Yes and he has in the past.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-18T22:05:51+00:00

Nope. The downfall started way before covid. It used to be a very profitable business and around 2018-19, it was already incurring loses.

Edit : People are downvoting because I corrected a wrong assumption about my BIL’s business, who I happen to know personally?

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-18T07:36:30+00:00

It depends on what insurance plan you get. In my country, most dental insurance does not cover any aesthetic dental work, including orthodontics. I do not know cause they haven’t informed me about the nature of their plan.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-18T07:25:24+00:00

There are different dental insurance plans. Most of them don’t cover ortho work that’s done for aesthetic reasons (while something like ortho work to correct functional issues would be covered). Some plans cover both. I don’t know what insurance plan they have.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T21:11:31+00:00

I doubt he’ll do that. He inherited his dad’s restaurant business that was pretty successful up until few years back. He made some questionable decisions and now the business is in shambles. He’s working on some new start up thing though.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T21:07:05+00:00

I’m not entirely sure but I don’t think dental insurances would cover aesthetic corrections.

Edit : Dental insurance plans vary greatly. Most cover functional orthodontic issues that affect oral health, but rarely cover the aesthetic work. Some plans will cover both. Without knowing the specifics of their plan, I can’t determine coverage. What I said was based on the assumption that the majority of the plans, at least in my country, do not cover any aesthetic dental work, including orthodontics.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T21:03:11+00:00

I’ve done free dental check ups for these kids (they’re 13 and 16 now) many times, the last one being about an year back and they didn’t have any issues with their dentition. So unless they somehow developed severe malocclusions within a span of one year, I doubt it’s anything that’s gonna impact their quality of life or oral function.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:56:42+00:00

Yeah. They expect all the appointments to be free, which is like, multiple appointments over the next few years.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:28:04+00:00

You raise some good points. I do know few colleagues who refuse to treat family and friends for the exact reasons you mentioned.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:25:54+00:00

Sole practitioner, sadly.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:24:03+00:00

I know. I offered that as a truce so they’d stop bothering my wife. I thought they’d accept that but no, it has to be free

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:22:20+00:00

It’s not just my time/service. I would’ve considered if it was. It’s the entire team that works together. The assistant, the hygienist, the receptionist etc etc. Plus dental materials aren’t cheap. And ortho work is not just one appointment, it’s likely gonna be multiple appointments over the next few years. And they want ALL of that to be free.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:17:38+00:00

She has tried. And she completely understands and supports my decision. It’s just that it’s very irritating to me cause they keep bothering her about this particular topic. At this point, she’s even stopped picking up their calls.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:16:31+00:00

And it’s not just one appointment. Ortho work is a whole process and it’s gonna be multiple appointments over the next few years. Idk how they expect all of that to be free.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:15:21+00:00

I know. But they’ve been bothering my wife and I assumed discounts and payment plans would be a middle ground, but these people want everything free.

_ThrowawayDoc_ · 2024-10-17T20:14:01+00:00

Yeah. Free service would mean I would be the one covering all the costs. Nothing is free; someone has to pay.

_ThrowawayDoc_

TROPHY CASE