A Predicament of Payment

You have been in solo practice for two years. You are meeting all office expenses and personal expenses. Within the next few months you expect to be able to start setting aside a small amount of money each month for savings. A new patient is referred by a patient for whom you have performed operative dentistry consisting of five amalgam restorations and two composites. The new patient is 43 years old and has not lost any teeth. His third molars are congenitally absent.

Your examination reveals that two teeth are restorable, but require endodontics and crowns, totaling $1,400. In addition, the patient needs operative dentistry and other services totaling $450. The patient is self-employed, without insurance, and earns a marginal living. He is able to pay for the operative dentistry, but not the endodontics and crowns. He wants to save the restorable teeth, but for financial reasons feels they must be extracted even though he cannot afford partial dentures.

What should you do?