u/Any-Basket1842

I recently went to a small private practice dentist for a consult to treat two teeth I was told by another dentist I needed crowns and gum treatments. I paid out of pocket for this exam and the necessary xrays. The dentist was a little waffling in her suggestions for what she believed I needed as treatment.

Here is a summary of her evaluation as I heard it spoken to me. At first she did not see even a cavity on the teeth needing any treatment, whether a filling or crown. She just said she saw nothing. When I felt confused and asked her to look again, she finally found the cavity below the gumline by taking a camera photo of my tooth; why she did not see decay on the xray, I don't know. She then suggested, although it was not totally clear, that I should get a deep cleaning and whatever she is seeing in the photo would possibly resolve.

This assessment left me very confused, and she seemed to want to talk about other issues in my mouth, like with some surrounding teeth. While I appreciated her thoughts about my other teeth, I wanted just to know what needed to be done on the two teeth of original concern, so I asked for a treatment plan, and the office agreed to send me one. I wanted something in writing because the dentist's verbal communication about her plan was so confusing to me.

At the end of my visit, the office agreed to send me in writing what was needed, but a week has now passed, and even with a reminder from me followed by a quick response/apology for not sending yet, I still have no plan to review. I don't know if I should just wait longer, follow-up again (hoping not to piss them off), or ask for a refund. Can I legally get a refund?

I paid for her clinical opinion with the intent to follow through on her treatment plan, but now I am nervous about having any dental work done there, and I am wondering if I am being ghosted. What should I do?

Again, this is a very small, family-run office, so I am hoping it is just limitations in office staff causing a delay. I don't know what is going on here. I fear they don't want to treat me, but I need treatment, I think, but now I am not even sure. Can they refuse to follow through and can I get my money back?

My neighbors spend their down time, which they have a lot of, working on multiple cars, mainly Mazdas, modifying mufflers/tailpipes (adding glass packs, etc), replacing bumpers, and who knows what else. The biggest problem I have is that they do this for hours, sometimes after 10 PM, and I hear their repair noises and dropping of tools, talking loudly, and the revving of their engines, often until the cars backfire. I also hear them running these loud cars up and down the street, peeling around corners or spinning around in the intersections. It sounds like a car meet or sideshow in my back yard. It is so much noise pollution to hear every day, I am at my limit. I have notified law enforcement many times, who have only put it back on me during my last call with "Have you tried going over there and having an adult conversation with them about it?" I have talked with them about loud music, many times and with short-lived results of them turning it down. But I also have to yell over a locked gate or along a side wall to get their attention, and even then they can't hear anything over all the noise they are making. There is no option to knock on their front door either because of the locked gate. Leaving a kindly worded note has only led to nasty notes back, so it does not feel safe to approach them myself anymore. I called/wrote to Code Enforcement about all the car repair work in this residential neighborhood, but their offices either ignore my written requests, or when I do finally get a call back, tell me to call law enforcement, so I am going in circles.

Dentist won't send me nor my new dentist a jpeg copy of my xrays. HIPAA paperwork was all signed. They only sent thumbnails images of my teeth as a single pdf to me, and the new dentist says she can't use them. The new dentist who requested the copies says they are not "diagnostic" and they need to have DICOM or jpeg copies. I had the xrays taken a little over a month ago, all covered by my insurance. I don't want to take more xrays at further expense, financially and medically (i.e., due to the radiation). I want to go to the new dentist to have the work I need done (i.e., crowns), because I can't talk to the previous office about my treatment plan, and they don't work well with my insurance for whatever reason, even though they are in-network. What can I do? I need to see the new dentist urgently and have her evaluate my dental problems and treat them, as this work has already been delayed months due to insurance and other problems.

I realize there may be one or more answers to this question in the reddit community already, but I am not able to connect those posted answers to my problem. I was hoping my "professional" tax preparer I paid to do my return would be of help, but all he says is that he is "too busy" to explain his mistake. No apologies, no refunds from him eiither.

I received a CP30 from the IRS saying I owe a penalty of $180.87. Per my return, the tax preparer estimated my tax underpayment penalty at $80. I paid estimated tax payments, had paycheck withholdings, and paid the remaining tax along with that $80 penalty a full month before April 15, 2026. How do I still have such a high penalty when I made estimated payments every quarter but one through 2025? If I lumped the payments from two quarters into one, could that have caused this penalty? All previous years, I made no estimated payments and would just agree to pay a penalty calculated by my preparer, but never in 20 years did I ever get a CP30 notice. Now suddenly, the first couple of year I actually do make estimated payments and use a new tax preparer, I now owe the IRS an additional penalty, and it is like the same amount as all prior years I did not make estimated payments, despite all the payments I made nearly every quarter this time. My tax preparer is just saying he made an error, but is not doing anything to help me understand the error so as not to get one of these scary notices again. Please, help me understand. And thank you, for your wisdom!

I keep hearing an announcement that "scooters" are not allowed on BART. What defines a scooter? I see what look like electric scooters every day. Maybe they mean mobility device type scooters? I can imagine that being the case. Can someone clarify?

People who smoke at bus or train stops when others (who may not smoke) also have to wait. Take all your drags on that cancer-stick BEFORE you join the rest of us at the bus or train stop!

I am expecting to get a crown. I have Anthem Blue Cross PPO. I have read other posts from several years ago about this topic, so my apologies in advance for repeating old news, so to speak, but I remain confused.

My question is: Can an IN-Network dentist charge an extra "zirconia upgrade" fee (i.e., $350), when they are already billing for the crown (porc/ceramic) itself (i.e., D2740) along with buildup/pins (D2950)? I am reading online on reddit and elsewhere how this extra "upgrade to zirconia" fee is potentially a violation of Anthem's PPO's contract with their in-network dentists. If this is not allowed, how do I state this to my dentist? I do not have that much money. I am not sure I can afford the cost of the crown with buildup even after the insurance is applied here. The extra fee the dentist may want is over the top of what I am expecting. My last crown with a different in-network dentist did not charge this fee, but I still got a zirconia crown. All back molars we are talking about here, so I am thinking they are/were medically necessary. Thank you for any insights.