Dentist charging a "behavioral fee" for ASD child?

[Anonymous]

That is terrible. We go to Dr Camp's pediatric dentistry and they have been great with a similar kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long was your child in the chair for op?

OP again here. Thank you to all the other parents who expressed their support for us and dismay over the situation. I still feel upset about what happened but your supportive words make it much better, and I hope you all never have to face this situation.

Since the length of time that my child was in the dental chair has become such an item of interest, I would estimate that the visit took 35-40 minutes.

That’s a very long time for just a cleaning. Usually they take about 20 minutes.

Did the doctor stay in the room or was it just the hygienist or were there multiple people in the room?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They probably charged you a fee because the dentist had to do the cleaning instead of the hygienist since your kid had too many problems. A dentists time will cost more than a hygienist. They probably said you don’t need to come back because you complained about not paying the doctor for their time.

OP again here--also, based on my observation, the dentist performed the cleaning of the next patient (and there were no other patients in the office during either of our appointments). I didn't complain about not paying for the dentist's time. I asked about why we were being charged a "behavioral fee," which was not a charge for extra time, or for the dentist's services.

[Anonymous]

What an a**hole. She should have just said she was not equipped to treat him and referred you to Bethesda Dental Specialities (this is what our dentist at Fusion did). Extra fee is not cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like your kid's issues created a longer appointment than the time normally allotted. Maybe that's why the fee.

+1 seems obvious. Should’ve mentioned it ahead of time, but time is money in services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long was your child in the chair for op?

OP again here. Thank you to all the other parents who expressed their support for us and dismay over the situation. I still feel upset about what happened but your supportive words make it much better, and I hope you all never have to face this situation.

Since the length of time that my child was in the dental chair has become such an item of interest, I would estimate that the visit took 35-40 minutes.

That’s a very long time for just a cleaning. Usually they take about 20 minutes.

Did the doctor stay in the room or was it just the hygienist or were there multiple people in the room?

And that was the time the child "was in the dental chaor," not including the times out of it.

[Anonymous]

^^"in the dental chair"

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I agree the dentist likely could have handled the situation better. I am pretty sure this is not the full story, and given that we are bashing business by name, accuracy probably should be important.

[Anonymous]

Op, I'm sorry that you had this experience with a dentist. I've also had a dc be 'exit-ed' from a dentist when she was 5, for being a scared autistic 5yo.

That fee though...I would have been hopping mad. 'Behavior fee' our kids are not purposely misbehaving! In my case, I'm glad our former dentist was honest about the fact that she was not comfortable treating my dc, but a 'fee' like that would have upset me terribly.

I'm not local or I would recommend our amazing sn friendly dental practice. I found them by word of mouth in our local facebook sn group. I think sometimes dental schools (if you have one locally) also do well with sn people. Our place does not flinch if dd has a meltdown-doesn't phase them at all. She's gone from shrieking the whole time, to calmly walking in, sitting in the chair, even getting a panoramic xray!

I'd ask around locally, like with other sn parents, and get recommendations from them. I live a solid hour from our dentist, and he's the go-to guy for sn kids in my community an hour or more from his office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like your kid's issues created a longer appointment than the time normally allotted. Maybe that's why the fee.

Time and stress.
Why do the parents of neurodivergent kids go to great lengths for all accommodations but don’t want to pay extra or be singled out? Part of being neurodivergent is you are different. It’s ok! But pay the fee and accept your kid was a headache and you know they were! You know it!

Should this apply to NT people as well. I have never had a cavity in my life. I have perfect gums (thanks genetics) and my cleanings go very quickly. If patients are going to be charged more for being Autistic and needing accommodations then I hope patients with cavities and who don’t floss get charged more than me for their appointments which surely take longer.

/s

You know that’s not the point! You know it. This is gross and offensive again from
The ND community. Your kids are what they are. We all make allowances and adaptations for you in public schools and all over!! Quit trying to justify this.

Different PP here and I think it’s exactly the point. This isn’t a by the minute charge. Some cleanings are faster than others and they all cost the same. Do you expect your physician to charge extra at your well visit because you have a cough in addition to the high blood pressure you were planning to talk about? If there’s a dentist who wants to set up a totally different model of charging they should be up front about it. That’s all.

I think you should go take a good look in the mirror and figure out what is wrong with your life that you have decided to come on a board intended for SN families and bash some one who had a really bad day. This isn’t the place for you to take out whatever aggressions you have on an anonymous stranger.

NP. Um, yes. What a bad example. This very well may get coded as a sick visit on top of the wellness visit. Most primary care offices will hide in tiny print somewhere that they may bill your insurance like this because they can claim separate codes. I know mine does.

[Anonymous]

Wow. This is disability discrimination. Businesses that are open to the public are, under the ADA, obligated to make reasonable accommodations for disabled persons.

It is not a reasonable accommodation to charge a disabled person more for their service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, that sounds reasonable as you are paying for their time and if you needed frequent breaks and other things, understand its a business and they have to pay staff and that means they cannot schedule another patient. If a regular appointment takes 30 minutes and yours took an hour, they need to account for the extra time.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is awful - her rejection of your child as a a patient AND her attempt to charge you for it is totally out of bounds. I don’t do this kind of stuff lightly but I would complain to the professional licensing board.

Agreed. This sounds like discrimination.

[Anonymous]

“Behavioral fee” is highly offensive. It should have been coded as administrative fee or time fee or service fee. The way it’s phrased literally makes it sound like you are charged for being ND.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Behavioral fee” is highly offensive. It should have been coded as administrative fee or time fee or service fee. The way it’s phrased literally makes it sound like you are charged for being ND.

This. For her to say she’s not the right dentist, ok whatever. To charge extra if extra time was taken (though it wasn’t apparently), makes sense. A behavioral fee you weren’t apprised of ahead of time - nope. And I’m sure that’s not covered by insurance either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just took our DC to Dr. Elizabeth Shin at Bethesda Chevy Chase Dentistry. We went to her after seeing her recommended on this board. But after our awful experience today, I wanted to warn other parents on this listserv that she attempted to charge us a $120 "behavioral fee" for our ASD/ADHD child.

DC has anxiety and sensitivity to dental care. DC and got out of the dental chair several times when things got overwhelming, but was quickly able to get back in with parental support. DC needed to take breaks and spit frequently, had difficulty choosing the flavor of toothpaste, and covered ears when Dr. Shin sang a song about tooth brushing (DC has sensitivity around this). To Dr. Shin's credit, DC was able to get through the appointment with a full cleaning and fluoride treatment on time.

Yes, the visit was more challenging than with NT kids. But Dr. Shin's actions after the appointment spoke volumes--she asked me "where on the spectrum" our child was, and informed me that "while I'm sure your child is very intelligent," he was "too high on the spectrum" for her to be able to accept as a patient. When I went to check out at the registration desk, I was informed that Dr. Shin was charging us an extra $120 for a "behavioral fee."

Effffffff that. Wow, horrible practice and thank you for sharing this