Jump To Appointment Related Questions
Treatment Related Questions
Will you put me out?
We do not offer IV sedation at our office. We do numb the area for all treatment. We offer N2O (nitrous oxide / laughing gas) as well. If necessary we can prescribe a medication at the consultation and schedule you to come back but it is not a medication that will place you in twilight sleep.
What is PARL and why does my dentist say I have it?
My tooth doesn’t hurt – why do I need a root canal?
There are a variety of reasons you can be referred for a root canal. The most common is pain. Some people don’t go to their dentist until they feel pain, at that point it’s usually to late and you either need a root canal or the tooth pulled. However you don’t always feel the pain. Some just don’t feel it. For others, there was pain but you managed to get past it and now the root is dead, so it can’t feel pain anymore. However the surrounding tissue can still feel pain and pressure. There are other reasons, such as needing a crown but there is not enough tooth structure to support the crown and you need a post (or more) to support the crown. The post needs to go down the root space in your tooth therefore your roots needs to be removed.
Yes, you can – however you need to be under medical care to treat your HBP. We will take your blood pressure prior to treatment, if it is near 180/100 or above we will recommend you see your Medical Doctor today and decline treatment. You can reschedule once you are sure you will test below 180/100 and/or have a letter from your medical doctor clearing you for treatment. We take your health very seriously. The medication used to numb the area can cause your blood pressure to rise and when your blood pressure is to high it puts you at risk for a stroke or heart attack.
Please call the front desk to schedule an appointment if you have not heard from us, you do not have to wait for us to call you!
We will ask you some questions to determine if you have insurance that should be considered in estimating the cost. Prior to scheduling we will provide you with a quote for treatment based on the referral from your dentist and the information you provide, as well as any other costs that may arise, so you are prepared before you even step foot in our office. We will schedule for either just an endodontic exam or for the exam with possible treatment depending on our discussion and what is indicated on the referral slip.
When scheduling we always start the appointment with an Exam and CBCT (3D x-ray, limited endodontic specific) and usually a couple special angle x-rays. The Doctor requires these new images to diagnose your specific situation, be aware of any possible issues, and discuss treatments options (or if treatment is indicated / beneficial). This is approximately 30 minutes and required prior to any treatment.
If treatment is indicated as necessary and beneficial, if scheduled we will start your treatment after the exam portion – and possibly complete treatment – in the same appointment. If the original appointment was for the exam portion only we will schedule you to return for the treatment on a different day.
When we are unsure of treatment required we will schedule just the exam to start so we can correctly treatment plan. Also some insurance plans have a limitation that they will not pay for the consultation and x-rays if done at the same appointment as treatment.
We take every measure to ensure that your procedure is as painless as possible. Prior to starting treatment, we will inject a small amount of local anesthetic to gently numb a concentrated area of your mouth. For most patients, the feeling of numbness usually subsides after 2-3 hours.
We also offer N2O (nitrous oxide / laughing gas) to ease any anxiety and tension you may have during the procedure. Using the gas helps you to Not focus on the procedure but you are completely awake and aware the whole time. The gas only works while you breath it in and you will return to your pre-gas state quickly once you stop breathing it. You are able to drive after using the gas.
If you require something a bit stronger we can discuss that during your evaluation appointment, we cannot schedule treatment with this appointment. Should you require this you will need to bring someone to your treatment appointment, as you cannot drive yourself, and that person will need to remain at our office during your treatment. This person needs to be a legal adult and responsible for your care the entire time.
Note: the numbness masks any pain, however you may still feel pressure (not pain!) while the doctor is working. We suggest using N2O to help you have the best experience possible during the procedure. When using nitrous oxide basically you are unable to hyper-focus on what is going on yet you are aware and can communicate fully.
The practice of modern endodontics has come a long way since the stories you may have heard in the past. The technology, knowledge and skill in todays endodontic offices far surpasses what your parents / grandparents had to go through.
Foothill Endodontics wants your experience to be as comfortable as possible and we do everything to ensure that.
Will I need to return to your office for follow-ups after the procedure is finished?
For most endodontic treatment we will not require you to return to our office once completed.
For some root canal treatments we will need to see you again in either a couple weeks or couple months. Occasionally it will be recommend that patients return to the office 1 year after the procedure was finished so that we can ensure all is healing well. We will schedule your appointment now so that we both get reminder notice to you when you are due for a recall appointment, when you get that notice you can call the office if you need to change the appointment. These are not long appointments and are usually no charge to the patient. We may take an x-ray or a new CBCT to check the progress of your healing state.
Appointment Related Questions
Please do not wait for us to call you. Well, maybe wait a little bit so we can get the referral. Even if you were told to wait – don’t! Sometimes the fax or email doesn’t get through to us so we don’t even know you are waiting for us to call you. Sometimes the phone number is missing or wrong – there are many reasons not to wait! When you call have your schedule and insurance info handy if applicable, your dentist generally doesn’t provide it. We schedule appointments Monday through Thursday.
Why do I have to take new x-rays / CBCT?
We know your dentist just did an exam and took some x-rays maybe even a scan to determine he needed to send you our way – however – Yes, we do usually require new x-rays and Limited CBCT.
We are an endodontic specialist office and our x-rays are taken a bit different than your regular dentist would normally take them, we also take a limited CBCT (or conebeam) – which is a 3D type of x-ray that allows us to see everything under the gumline from every angle possible which will help determine if a root canal is the right treatment for you. We are looking for fractures, hidden roots and what caused you need an appointment in our office.
Why do I have to do all this paperwork? You don’t need to know this.
“This is for a root canal, you don’t need my medical history or medications!.”
Yes, yes we do. We don’t have access to your medical / medication history that your dentist has. We cannot access My Chart either. We absolutely need your complete Medical history and current Medication list. We need the names of your medication (prescription and over the counter) not necessarily the dosages. We need this because it is a medical appointment. We need to know if anything we will do interacts with your physical health or current prescriptions. For example, what we use to numb you can cause your blood pressure to rise – if you have high blood pressure, test over a certain limit, we cannot treat you without the risk of a stroke or similar – we won’t do that. Your health is the most important thing to us!
Didn’t my dentist give you my insurance?
No, they probably didn’t. While some do provide your insurance information when they send the referral, most do not. Please have it handy when you call. Review our Payment & Insurance page for more information.
Do you take my insurance?
We will gladly bill any insurance we can. That said we cannot bill all insurance plans.
We are contracted with Delta Dental – We are Premier, PPO and EPO in-network. We can bill them and we are in-network – any state.
We cannot bill DeltaCare – this is Delta Dental DMO and requires in-network. That being said, DeltaCare has been known to reach out to us to cover specific patients allowing a 1 time exception to go out of network – you need to contact DeltaCare directly to begin this process.
We cannot bill Kaiser Dental, you must stay within their contracted networks.
We are Out-of-Network for all other insurances such as Metlife, Aetna, Pacific Source, Ameritas, Standard, GEHA, Regence BCBS and others. This means you need to confirm that your insurance plan allows for Out-of-Network benefits (not all do). HOWEVER check your benefits. Depending on the plan there may not be a difference, or much of one, between In and Out of network.
We cannot bill Medicare, OHP, Jackson Care Connect – They require you to stay within their networks.
For more information on insurance please see our page “Fees: Payment & Insurance” under the Patient tab [click here] or contact your insurance company directly.
Will you give me a discount? Payment Plan?
We do not offer senior, military, etc discounts. Instead of providing discounts to a limited group we chose instead to keep our rates at lower price point for our patients benefit as a whole.
We do not have an in-house payment plan however we do accept CareCredit and Cherry payment plans. See our [Payment Plans] page for more information. Payment is expected at time of service, when insurance is factored we will ask for the estimated out of pocket then bill any additional if applicable after insurance settles.
We are very up front about our fees. We are very competitive and very Clear as to what our charges are and may be.
“My Dentist said it should only be $1800 for a root canal but you want $2300!! Why!!”
— A molar root canal is just under $1800. However that is not the only charge involved with an endodontic appointment. We need to take our own CBCT and do an Evaluation with Dr Taylor. These are additional charges that pretty much all endo offices charge but don’t always state up front. Consultations are not free.
— Need a medication due to infection? Is it a re-treatment instead of a first time root canal on that tooth? Do you need a post & core build-up? Do you need an Apico instead of an Endo? All of these are additional, or different, charges. When we are aware we will quote these up-front prior to your appointment / treatment. We may need to do the consultation / evaluation appointment to accurately treatment plan for cases where it is unclear what treatment is needed.
We will collect what we Estimate to be your portion of the cost at your appointment at the time of service. If billing insurance our estimate is a Best Guess. Even if we do a pre-authorization that is not a guarantee of benefits.
Many things can alter how your insurance will pay leaving you with a balance due. From the time I do the estimate for your treatment other office claims can clear reducing your available funds, using frequency limited procedures can use part of that. For example: I do an estimate for a consultation – with insurance your out of pocket is $0.00 – however by the time we do the consultation and actually bill your insurance you have used your 1 exam per 6 months at another office so that is denied, and you have maxed out your annual benefits at a different office so the whole claim is denied. You are now responsible for the amount the insurance did not pay.
Our address is: 3534 Lone Pine Rd, Medford OR 97504. We are in the building behind Lone Pine Drug, next door to the Medford Animal Hospital. We are in the Right Back Corner of the complex.
Our complex is at the Corner of Lone Pine Rd and Foothill Rd (near E McAndrews).
NOTE: Foothill Rd now has a center divider – you cannot make a Left onto Lone Pine if you are coming from E McAndrews, you Can make a right if you are coming from Delta Waters.
If you are coming up Foothill from N Phoenix Rd you can take a Left just after the bridge to access E McAndrews then take Thrasher Ln (first right side street) to Lone Pine, go Right. We are not far down on the right hand side of the street just before Foothill Rd. We are here and the complex is completely open.
We are surrounded by a neighborhood, across from the electric plant.