High Limit Credit Card for Dental Work

[Anonymous]

I used the Amex Gold Charge Card for the brunt of it since the NPSL was $35K, then I BT'd $10K to Discover for 12 months at 0% because it was my largest CL and could handle the UT without hurting my score too much. Then I charged the rest of it to Amex ED because it came with 15 months 0% interest, and all the while still earning MR's. 

Granted mine didin't cost $30-50K, so you will likely have to get some kind of loan if you don't have enough cards to absorb the costs. Especially if none have low APRs to take advantage of. Fortunately Disco is usually always there for me with BT offers, and can even ge them to give me 12 month 0% APR for purchases every now and then. 

What's cool about the Gold now is that it has the Plan It feature which charges a small fee instead of the standard APR, makes large purchases more managable for non PIFers. 

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

@zerofire $30-50k is typical for a full mouth dental reconstruction.  

As an aside, Dr. Phil has never been licensed to practice medicine (the "Dr." comes from a doctorate in clinical psychology, which he is no longer licensed to practice).

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Wait a tic, you mean to tell me that he doesn't even have the credentials to dispense advice?! 

[zerofire]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

@zerofire $30-50k is typical for a full mouth dental reconstruction.  

As an aside, Dr. Phil has never been licensed to practice medicine (the "Dr." comes from a doctorate in clinical psychology, which he is no longer licensed to practice).

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I used Dr. Phil as a example of a celebrity. It is an example of how costs get jacked up even by askingthem to show up on TV. I was well aware that he used a be licenced a really low level of medical(Psychology) and that credentials have expired. The issue with Dr. Phil is that while the credentials have expired as long as he does not open a practice he can say anything he wants on TV regardless of it being right or wrong and get paid for it.

That cost still looks like it should get sent through dental insurance first. Two fillings are just over $150 without insurance but become a more reasonable $60-80 when processed.

[Anonymous]

Cost isn't off the charts. I had 5 surgeries, including those needed for a dental implant. I had dental insurance, a father in law who did the crown work for next to nothing for me, and the cost was still north of 6K out of pocket. 

I had a 0% promo on a CFU which is now a CF and used that. I didn't have an issue paying off the card before the 0 expired.  If I were in your friend's shoes, I would have used the entire card's line for dental work, tried to get a 0% promo on my disco for additional funds, and then pay off as much as possible and do a BT for the remaining. 

Of course mine is hypothetical, because I have the CLs and a low Savor APR as well to use (which is no longer a 27k card). But that's how I would make it work with CC. Or get a low interest loan for the remainder of the balance. 

If I could use 0% on a card, I would and pay off as much as possible before going to a direct loan off the bat, given my credit profile.

[Anonymous]

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@zerofire wrote:

30k-50k in dental work? What is this middle of NYC, without insurance, and by a celebrity doctor? Hey Dr. Phil, I have a tooth ache, help?

Lets be real if you are getting such a high number it is better to double check the price. I had a crown done and it did not cost even 1/100 of that. Even multiplied you run out of teeth. If the damage is this severe then dentures might be the better option. My guess is the zeros need to be removed. Your best bet is to go through a provider sponsored Care Credit application. This way there will be some 0% term. If there is spare money then perhaps Navy FCU will be willing to offer a card with a high limit or at least Signature benefits(Soft limit instead of hard) to get some rewards on it.

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Not every one has dental insurance, and often coverage is limited to a fairly low amount (e.g. $1,500 a year).  Less than $500 for a crown would be amazing around here (Boston)

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@zerofire wrote:

30k-50k in dental work? What is this middle of NYC, without insurance, and by a celebrity doctor? Hey Dr. Phil, I have a tooth ache, help?

Lets be real if you are getting such a high number it is better to double check the price. I had a crown done and it did not cost even 1/100 of that. Even multiplied you run out of teeth. If the damage is this severe then dentures might be the better option. My guess is the zeros need to be removed. Your best bet is to go through a provider sponsored Care Credit application. This way there will be some 0% term. If there is spare money then perhaps Navy FCU will be willing to offer a card with a high limit or at least Signature benefits(Soft limit instead of hard) to get some rewards on it.

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Not every one has dental insurance, and often coverage is limited to a fairly low amount (e.g. $1,500 a year).  Less than $500 for a crown would be amazing around here (Boston)

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Agree dental insurance is nothing like medical insurance.  Most cap out at 1500 which can easily be eaten alive on nothing like op mentioned.

[Anonymous]

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@MyDataMyChoice wrote:
Thank you all for the reply's... Anyone know the theoretical max for carecredit (as it would be 5 year 0% equal pay option)

lightstream is an option

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CareCredit does max of 24 months at 0% int. They do longer terms (the equal pay your spoke of) but 60 konths (5 years) would be 17.9%. It spells all of this out on their website when you go to the payment calculator. Max I have seen is 25k for CL. There are also other dental cards out there, one by Comenity I know of that also does promos like CareCredit.

My SO goes to a dentist that accepts both CareCredit and the comenity dental card, so I suppose if you somehow could get both cards at max limits and use promos on both, you could potentially get the 30-50k that way, but you would be required to pay bith lines in 24 months which would be upwards of 2k/mo+ in payments. So you need to make sure they accept these forms of payment first.

I guess you could try balance transferring the remaining balance(s) ar the end of the 24 months on both cards, but if they are not paid off by then end of the 2 years then you will be required to pay interest back dated to the beginning of the purchases at the full amount of cost.

Lastly, maxing out both cards could potentially send your util through the roof.

Good luck!

Also in regards to dental implants (which I assume you speak of) are incredibly pricey and the amount you quote is not out of range and dental insurance does not cover them because they are considered cosmetic, which I think is silly, because dentures are awful. You just need to make sure the mouth can actually handle them. Be careful to not get conned into a bunch of bone grafts either. Always get a second opinion. 

My SO ended uo having to get the dentures, still not cheap, altogether we still paid just about 7k, and it will never be like eating with teeth. I still am trying to convince him to invest in implants down the road (4 in 1s).

Good luck!