What a coincidence. I just had a crown put in today, to cap a molar covered with childhood-era fillings. A part of that tooth broke off yesterday, too, so the timing was just right.
$350 or so; insurance (Delta Dental) covered 50%. No pain, and the bite seems fine. It’s just … well, strange.
My insurance doesn’t cover the entire cost of a crown.
It also has a yearly cap, with the root canal, I’m probably pretty close to it already this year.
My root canal was about $1200. I’ll write a check for $300. I love writing checks for pain.
But some insurance is better than no insurance.
Anyone with no insurance may want to check their local university for a dental school. Having someone do their first (or 50th) filling in your mouth is rumored to be no fun (my brother in law had an oral surgeon in training do his wisdom teeth and doesn’t recommend it unless you are already in a lot of pain). But fillings can prevent crowns, crowns can prevent root canals, and root canals, although painful, do eventually keep you from being in greater pain.
Never had a cavity.
Never had a filling.
Had wisdom teeth pulled (dry socket included - no charge).
Had the dreaded gum surgery (stitches between every tooth in my mouth – had the whole mouth done at once).
I’d pay way more out of my own pocket NOT to go to a student dentist. No offense to any student dentists out there, but I am a big-time dental weenie, and no way in HELL am I letting somebody learn on MY teeth. Use my mom’s husband’s. He falls asleep at the dentist!
Crap, reading some of the horror stories in this thread, and my wife’s nightmare of a root canal last week have convinced me to go to the dentist for my first checkup in about 4 years.
My wife’s root canal was so painful that they gave her vicodin for the pain and penicillin to clean up the infection that she had. She has been eating mushy foods for about a week now.
ummmm vicodin. With the amoxicillyn chaser. Yep, that’s what I’m on.
Fuck, I need a crown on a molar as well. Anyone have 100% dental coverage and need a husband for a week or two?
I did the student dentist thing for two of my wisdom teeth extractions. It was way better than the real dentist, who left me with a dry socket and a big bill. The bill was like $150 and the dental school only charged me $18. This was a million years ago, so I’m sure it’s gone up a bit, but it’s a major savings. And they’re supervised by experienced guys. There’s nothing to be scared of.
No, kambuckta, there was no falsehood involved. Been there for it all, as described.
Not a toughguy, I think my ability to disassociate is better than most. I’m thankful for that. 
Kalhoun, I am aware that they are supervised. But I’m still not going that route. Telling somebody who is as scared of dental work as I am that there’s nothing to be scared of will only get you laughed at, or possibly hit. I get nervous at a CLEANING, let alone anything involving needles or drills or other horrible things.
Gee, dentistry has changed since I last got the guts up to go. I was pleasantly surprised.
There was no pain whatsoever…using a topical anaesthetic before they bunged the lignocaine-filled needle in ensured that my clenched fists/toes/buttocks relaxed in seconds. However, the drills still make the most abysmal noise that is guaranteed to set all your nerves on edge. When they can make a noiseless drill, I might think about going back again!!
It was just a filling, and I know I’m a wuss.
Glad your teeth are better kambuckta I hate the dentist’s too.
Recently I had a tooth filled. the dentist did a terrible job of preparing my tooth, so I ended up with very sharp edge on it, it cut the inside of my cheek up like nobody’s business! I told my mum. she said use a nail file to file it down. I frowned at her. Then a few days later I tried it. Worked like a charm! no more sharp-edged tooth.
Good on ya ** kambuckta **.
Wuss
I go every six months. The fact that I do that is an excellent testimony to my dentist. I WOULDN’T GO TO ANY OTHER DENTIST ON THE PLANET. But I haven’t had any cavities since Dr. Stern did the initial job of fixing my teeth over 15 years ago.
I had a major toothache one freezing cold Saturday afternoon. Dr. Stern was closed. By Saturday night I was in agony. I decided to lay down on the couch and wait for my neighbor to come home to see if she would take me to the emergency room. When I heard her come in, I went to look over the arm of the couch to see what time it was…and I hit the side of my jaw with the toothache and bit down really hard.
And I experienced pain of a new dimension. I grabbed the side of my face and started running back and forth in my two room apartment. I was damn near on the ceiling. When I got ahold of myself, I lay down and thought “That’s it. I’m gonna die. I ain’t making it to the hospital.” And I fell asleep.
I woke up at 4 in the morning with a dull ache in my jaw. When I went to Dr. Stern later that week, he said I had an absess and had popped it when I bit down. It was completely drained.
I wouldn’t suggest trying this at home.
I have had awful problems with toothaches/jawaches/earaches caused by sinus pain (it’s not the tooth … but the sinusitis tricks you into thinking it is).
I usually end up unclothed on the bathroom floor, writhing in pain. Obviously this does absolutely nothing to help the sinusitis, but for some reason, it’s just what I do. Growing up, if I had complained about my sinuses earlier in the day, and my parents found the bathroom door closed with me nowhere to be found, they knew not to open the door.
[Cheech & Chong voice] Earache my eye! How would you like a nice buttache? [/Cheech & Chong voice]
Annie, I am feeling the urge to go hide under my desk just at the THOUGHT of experiencing something that. EEEEK!
I am way overdue to visit the dentist. Until I am insured, which it turns out actually might happen, it’ll probably stay that way, barring emergencies. Good teeth. Atta teeth. Please don’t get any cavities, teeth…
Good for you, kambuckta. I always feel like I deserve to be congratulated after getting my teeth worked on. I swear if it wasn’t for nitrous I never WOULD.
Yeah. I asked the dentist very nicely if I could have one of those “I Went to the Dentist and I Didn’t Cry ONCE” stickers that he hands out to the kids, but he told me to bugger-off.
Bastard.
I had several toothaches as a child. I had cavities that the dentist told my parents there was no point in filling because these particular molars were going to fall out within 6 months anyway. Of course they didn’t, and each one in turn ended up abscessed and needed to be extracted. This was in the days before there was dental insurance, (when dinosaurs ruled the earth). After that I swore I would never have a toothache again. And I never have. I go for a cleaning and checkup every 6 months. This is not unpleasant; I can’t imagine why people complain about it. If a cavity is even starting it gets fixed right away when it is so small I don’t even need novocaine for the drilling.
I guess I’m also fortunate in that if something very painful happens to any of his patients, my dentist would fit them in somehow regardless of the day of the week as an emergency measure.
Years ago, I needed a root canal, and knew it had to be right then. Thankfully, my dentist is a firehouse buddy, and agreed to meet me at his office on his day off.
Once there, he performed the procedure, while wearing very non-doctor garb of flannel shirt and jeans,while his irish setter, Casey-AKA Beanhead, rested muzzle on my thigh to be petted.
Doctor’s offices should have critters.