Hey, man - I’m not saying it’s right, I’m saying that’s how it’s justified.
If you live anywhere near southern California or Arizona, I recommend heading to Tijuana. I had a root canal and crown done there when I had no insurance, for a total of maybe $500 US. Hell, it may be worth it to get a plane ticket to San Diego and take a bus to the border.
Here’s a price list just so you get an idea of how much is typically charged. I’m not specifically endorsing these guys (first Google hit with “Tijuana dentist”) and there are a lot of dentists in TJ that cater to Americans, so feel free to shop around.
http://www.drwbartell.com/PricesBDC.html
edit: I completely missed that you were considering going to Juarez. I say go for it.
I was in a similar situation. I had a failing baby tooth and another matching one on the other side that wasn’t going to last much longer either. I was quoted around $4000 dollars for a single implant and crown. I knew that meant another $4k in the near future, or learn to adjust to the eventual gaps. I was quoted around $5k for orthodontics that closed the gap, and in the process straightened up some misaligned teeth that were caused by still have the baby teeth there. Unfortunately, that meant having two perfectly healthy bicuspids removed to match everything up. I’m a year into wearing the braces, and have about another year to go. So, I saved around $3k and took care of the misalignment that had bothered me for years. Not that any of this helps you in your situation, other than to confirm that the cost of a single implant and crown is about $4,000.
Dentists charge a lot because there are not a lot of them around, it’s a very special skill. And because they can get away with charging a lot.
If you want to avoid big dental bills take care of your teeth. If you are slack and don’t brush and floss then you better get ready for the big bills. You have a lot of control over what you pay. Some people don’t go to a dentist for even a cleaning for years and then they end up with giant bills for many problems.
Well, that was… uninformed.
I brush, I floss, I go to the dentist for cleanings and checkups. My teeth suck. It happens.
And where do you live that there aren’t a lot of dentists? There are approximately 7 dentist’s offices within six blocks or so of my place, at least 20 within a mile.
Compared to mechanics, carpenters, CPAs, etc. there are not a lot of dentists. Here in NC there is just 1 dental school. To compare we have 4 med schools and 4 law schools.
Also the vast majority of dentists don’t do implants, that is a specialty. In fact around here a lot of people go to UNC dental school for implants since there are not many people who do them.
Part of the cost of a crown is the material used to make them. I have one crown (broke a molar) and there’s platinum, gold, and some other metal under either resin or porcelain. (I want to think I have resin, as it doesn’t feel like porcelain to my tongue).
My crown cost me about 1000 and I think a big part of that cost was due to the metals used…
Compared to dermatologists, heart specialists and pediatricians, dentists are a dime a dozen. You’re right…not every dentist does implants, but I’m guessing there are tons of dentists. The number of dental schools probably has little bearing on how many dentists are in the area. Not sure which city you’re in, but the Raleigh vicinity has 210 dentists. According to the Yahoo yellow pages, there are 225 that come up under “dental implants” and “Raleigh” (vicinity).
My dentist now has a machine to make crowns in their office. It has no metal, all porcelain. They take a picture of your tooth and the computer directs a milling machine to make the crown based on the picture. The machine takes about 15 minutes to make the crown.
The big plus is you only need 1 visit and you don’t need a crappy temp crown. It costs about the same as the lab made crown. Many dentists are doing this now.
Well, keep in mind you really need your teeth, and you use your teeth a lot, everyday.
Probably more than your endtables. 
WOW!!! That sounds terrific.
I HATE how they have to take impressions, etc., you get a temporary one and then having the new permanent one feeling a little off. Now you and the dentist have to pinpoint exactly what is not hitting properly. Maybe it feels like the old one and maybe not. I’ve always thought there has to be an easier way. Now it seems like there is.
p.s. I really do love my dentist; he and everyone in his office is great.
The only people who don’t like 1 visit crowns are the labs - they lose business.
5 years ago in a suburb of NYC I was quoted close to $4000 for an implant and crown.
Earlier this year in a suburb of Baltimore the quoted price was $2600.
I think it stinks that your dentist didn’t clarify exactly what you would get for your money.
I will tell you I think it’s worth replacing a tooth even if it isn’t visible. I don’t have insurance or the money to replace the tooth that was extracted earlier this year. I do notice a shift in my bite. Also, my cheek sinks into the spot where my tooth used to be and my face looks less symetrical than a face typically does. As soon as I have the means I will replace it.
Having a missing tooth will cause the other teeth to do more of the work, leading to increased risk of other teeth cracking. I had a lower rear molar extracted last year, and was told that there is increased risk that since the corresonding upper molar didn’t have an opposing tooth, that the upper tooth might “erupt” over time and eventually loosen and fall out.
A few months ago I had an implant, which cost a little more than $4000. The implant was not covered by insurance, but the crown will be. It was done by a very experienced oral surgeon, not a regular DDS.
That was my conclusion, too.
My wife’s was around $3000 a few years ago. She’s very happy with it. As others have mentioned, insurance pays nothing. I tried to convince them to at least pay what they would have paid for a crown but they weren’t buying it. Bastards.
Over the last few years I’ve had a completely broken molar on the left side bottom. It just broke apart and about 3 pieces came out. Luckily for me I had NO pain whatsoever associated with it, so I made do, chewing on the other side for probably 3 years. Then I broke the tooth behind the canine on the right side top, and suddenly I had no good side to chew with! I went to a dentist’s office that we did the cabinets for (I work at a commercial cabinetry business), and they crowned the one on the left side, the longstanding problem tooth. It was such a relief to chew on the left side again!
After that, I went back and they just pulled the rest of the right-side tooth that had broken, and tried to hard-sell me on an implant. I politely said no, and I’ve been chewing just fine with both sides for about 1-1/2 years now. The crown cost me $600 total, and the implant they quoted me would have ended up about $1,200 TOTAL. That’s because they had some new way to do it and they wanted to get the word out about it (and practice using it, I think!). I still haven’t done it and don’t think I will. Just the idea of sitting around for 6 months with a screw sticking out of my gum, slowly ossifying into place just bothers me.
I’m happy the way I am now… we’ll see what the future holds.
Kalhoun - FYI - my company has installed cabinetry at 93 dental offices in the Triangle area of NC, around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill!
But what percentage of the population needs to see a dermatologist, heart specialist, or even pediatrician once or more every six months?
Complicating things for NC residents, there are way more dentists in the Triangle area than in other parts of NC. If you’re in a related business, you probably heard about the debate about opening a dental school at ECU to address the shortage of dentists in Eastern NC. You will be installing fewer cabinets there. Some info here in case you missed it: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/inthenews/archives/2005/12/032706dental.cfm
The point I was making is that he said there aren’t many dentists in his area. My research found that that are LOTS. 210 dentists and 225 implant specialists, as listed in the Yahoo! Yellow Pages.
I have had to buy four dental implants. those prices aren’t way out of line. in my experience, the implants seem a bit low (I recently paid $3K each) while the crown seems high. anything over 1K would generate questions. In sum, $4K seems high. But the cost has been rising rapidly in the last few years.