they assume you wont agree to more procedures down the line or pay more? it its a double edge sword.

i saw a dentist recently out of pocket for emergency tooth pain, it costed 270 for a limited exam on those teeth(not whole mouth). then they try to convince me to do a full cleaning and exam for more twice that much. there are dentist that arnt charging that amount out of pocket. just got google around look at yelp reviews(helpful in looking at seedy dentists, or low cost). dental school/universities are a thing but i noticed they take a very long time to even onboard you, so its not all that useful in the end(especially needed something like cavity filling or more extreme extraction/root canals.) i currently have that same tooth that is much more sensitive than before but they arnt interested in investigating further since it failed the cold test(they apply something cold on the surface of the teeth to determine which one illicit a painful sensitivity response)

also certain insurance might not be accepted by different dentists too.