Get a crown(root canal and crown $1800) and another tooth goes bad a week later.

It is expensive. Dental insurance helps. Life without teeth is not fun.

Two root canals, then both failed within a year. Both had to be pulled. Shitty dental work, my new dentist said. I believe it.

6 grand work last year and the cost is still mounting.

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:
Two root canals, then both failed within a year. Both had to be pulled. Shitty dental work, my new dentist said. I believe it.

Yep. I had a root canal 13 years ago and it is still solid.

I get it.

I have a good friend who has been a dental tourist to Central America twice. I'll see if I can dig up the scary pix from his first visit. Went for ~6 caps and got, well, 32?

I had really bad timing when I needed a root canal and crown. I waited until January to get my toothache checked. I had a cracked tooth. Insurance max was $2000 per year. It cost almost 4K by the time I was done. If I went in December I'd have had most of it covered by doing root canal in December and crown in January. But I can't imagine not having the dental coverage. That would suck. I'd just get them pulled at that point.

5 years ago I got one for 450. Last week I had a it replaced because it was done poorly. The replacement was 2200. Apparently the 450 was no bargain.

We I was younger, I found a dentist who was just starting out and made a deal with him. I paid him 2k a year for all routine dental work for myself, wife and 2 kids. We did that for 7 or 8 years. Worth a try.

Younger dentists are less experienced, but often have the latest tools and techniques.

Add me in.

Daughter goes for braces evaluation next week.

It is badly needed. But Ca-ching.

My dental insurance costs $1,300 a year. Not awful, and it gets us 3 cleanings each a year (4 total family on it). So roughly $100 each per cleaning. Caps are kinda low, in my opinion, and I think it's 50/50 split until the deductible. Not awful...not great.

$2k worth of coverage for braces per kid per lifetime though. Hopefully the hoops aren't too difficult to jump through. We'll see.

I agree with you elmer. I had to get a crown (my first) in December and it was almost $600 out of pocket for me. What's the point of having insurance if you have to pay so much out of pocket? And...I've been told I need a 2nd crown on the other side

See if you dentist works with DentalPlans.com. Ours does, and it's saved us a ton o' money. It's not insurance, per se, but more a kind of a discount program.

Insurance, savings and with the children ensuring they take care of their teeth.

I was blessed for almost 70 years with teeth that rarely needed anything. I had, IIRC 4 fillings and I broke one and ahd to get a crown. Insurance just didn't pay off for me as my only dental expense, really, were the cleanings twice a year.

Fast forward to Spring, 2015 and my diagnosis with head and neck cancer, so chemo and 35 radiation treatments. Again, I was blessed that apparently it is gone BUT it did a number on my teeth and my dentist ells me that's not only normal, but will continue for he remainder of my life.

Now I have a couple of cavities a year, have had three crowns and get the cleanings every two months (that two months is my idea, just to try to stay ahead of the stuff). I have one tooth the dentist says she cannot save and it's just a matter of time till it's gotta come out.

Problem is-I love my dentist and hygienist. They take insurance, but the patient pays the rest. So, if they charge $200 for some procedure and insurance pays $75 bucks, the patient owes another $125.

On top of the cost of the procedures, the insurance and its premiums don't make sense for me.

I could find another dentist who accepts whatever the insurance company pays plus a deductible, but my dentist is sweet, pretty and, most importantly, pain-free. However, like most really nice things, she's a bit expensive.

Bob

I never could grasp why our health insurances don't cover teeth and eyes. It's shitty that they split that up.

the four people that I saw at the dentist office last week ,all had dental insurance.

I was told that at the age of 62, dental ins. would not end up helping me ,

I was told that dental Ins. is for couple with kids , and it helps them out a bunch .

when I have the extra cash , I put what I can in too an envelope marked "Dentist"

It's been 4 years since I have had to collect from it , ( $1,600.00 in there)

My dad saved a bunch on dental care. After a certain age he got dentures. Never saw a dentist again.

^^^^^^^^
Dentures are not even close to a replacement for teeth. I do not know many people that are happy with their dentures. Ask Pelosi and Biden.

I'm lucky. My teeth are really good (minus a couple of gaps) only ever had one cavity. That one cavity filing has broken twice though and needed to be refilled. That is the extent of my dental work over my lifetime. Dentist always wants to take my wisdom teeth, but I always ask the same question, are they causing any problems now? No. OK leave them for now. I also get a 15% discount every time since my dentist is my cousin. I get three teeth cleanings per year, bite wings every year, panoramic every 2-3 years. I think it adds up to about $500 per year average. Use my Health Savings Account to pay for it so I don't feel any pain from the wallet when I go in.

I feel ya Elmer. It's expensive as Hell.
Had a tooth knocked out last year in a fight. I went to the dentist and he gave me a quote for an implant. Holy Shit!
Nope. So I'm missing a tooth. No way I'm giving a few thousand dollars for that.

Genetics really kicked me in the teeth, eyes, and nose:

teeth - Dad has nearly perfect teeth and Mom had fillings, crowns, and root canals. I had a bunch of cavities from my childhood on adult teeth, and a couple have cracked needing crowns. Last year, the root died under a crown and had to have a root canal through the crown.

eyes - Dad didn't need glasses until his 60s, but Mom got her first pair in her teens and bifocals in early 40s. I got my first pair in my teens and bifocals in my early 40s.

allergies - Mom had virtually none and Dad is allergic to dozens of things so he had allergy shots in his 40s. I'm allergic to dozens of things and about to start allergy shots.

nose - Mom's was normal in every way and Dad's is the family trademark appearance wise and had to have deviated septum surgery. Mine has the family trademark appearance and had to have deviated septum surgery in my 30s.

About the only thing I got lucky on was both of my parents had 2 wisdom teeth, my brother had 4 wisdom teeth, and I had zero wisdom teeth.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.