01/23/2021
It was just a matter of time. Covid-19 low cost gas bottomed out at stayed there for months and months (this was at Costco). About 2 weeks ago I filled my tank and gas had finally gone up by $0.04 a gallon. I filled up again today and it had gone up another $0.07 a gallon. Why am I bringing this up? Many, me included, are worried about rampant inflation the next few years. Cost for everything seems to be going up. Unfortunately, this will affect the cost of health care, my practice is not immune to these increased costs! The cost for masks, gloves, and disinfection supplies my costs have increased anywhere from 200% to 500%. So what does this mean? Last year I only increase fees on a few things, (gold crowns for instance because the cost of gold has gone up so much). I did not want to add to my patients financial problems by increasing fees. So last year was a year of not adjusting for inflation for most fees while the cost of my providing care to you has gone up more than usual. Please know that I will endeavor to keep costs as low as I can while still providing excellent health care, without reducing the time needed to do it right, and without switching to lower quality dental materials used for your care. That being said, I did have to increase fees 3% this year. A financial group that advises dentists on fee increases advised I first adjust my fees for not increasing them last year, then another 4% fee increase for this year on top of that, (this was to recapture / rebalance the compounding effect of annual fee increases). It is my hope that you recognize that I could not continue to hold fees at the same level another year and still provide you the care you deserve. I hope you all well in these uncertain times! Sincerely, Robert P. Pierson, DDS
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