My dentist tells me I need a root canal and sends me to a dentist who does only root canals-- so I guess we can call him a specialist.
The specialist breaks it down into 3 visits, probably to make it seem like I’m getting more for the price? Three visits were not necessary. Dentists used to do it all in one visit!
The specialist performs the root canal but doesn’t put a final filing. He puts a temporary filling and tells me I have to go back to the original dentist to get the final filing. He charges me 1400.00 for his work. Makes me sign a form to make sure I pay. Onto the credit card it goes and deeper in debt. He knows that I cannot afford it but gave me no option but to pull the tooth. No payment plans. Nothing. No mercy. It’s a front tooth and can’t pull it.
I go back to my regular dentist who does the filling for an additional 150.00 and tries to get me to buy a crown for an additional 1000.00.
The specialist works only two days a week. My regular dentist works only 4 days a week. Doing a little research, most dentists in my area work only 4 days a week. I have yet to find one who works 5 days a week.
My question is this: am I being ripped off? I’ve called the ADA. They won’t comment and sent me to the Massachusetts Dental Society. Mass Dental won’t answer either and sent me to the three top dental schools. They won’t answer either.
What I’d really like to know is this: materials alone, what does it cost the dentist to do a root canal. Keep in mind, if a special machine is needed to do it, break it down on a per-customer or per-session cost. Don’t factor in x-rays cause they were not part of the price. For example, if a special machine cost the dentist 30 grand, obviously you cannot add the 30,000 to the final cost of a root canal. But maybe it’s a buck a patient over so many hundred thousand uses, etc. And I understand this can only be a ball park figure but try to get it accurate within 100.00. If adding education into the final cost, remember, 1400.00 per root canal times how many teeth in a mouth, times how many clients, etc.
It’s my first root canal and I have a feeling I’m being raped! If you can answer this question, you’re good!Dentists stick together and it’s unlikely you’ll get an active dentist to tell. I’m guessing a retired dentist or someone in academia may oblige. For certain, you’ll be serving many, many people in answering this question.
By the way, the alternative to a root canal or getting it pulled is to put an implant and that’s roughly 5,000 a pop! A crook robs a bank… he’s a crook. But these dentists are worse than crooks because they have you by the throat. You need teeth to maintain health. You need teeth to keep your face right and to keep all your other teeth in line. If one tooth is wrong, it affects every other body function…and it throws the placement of all the other teeth in the mouth. They have you by the throat and there is little mercy for those who cannot afford it except to go to dental schools where it’s cheaper but often far away drives and months of waiting.
I have no issue with dentists becoming rich. I do have issue with the speed in which they attain that goal. Raping people to get rich fast is obviously okay with all dentists. From their perspective, it’s a cruel world and they are going to “get theirs.” Problem is, their antics amount to just another evil in our society which is not felt by anyone but the low-income crowd and people with no dental insurance. Get rich at a reasonable speed… do the right thing. They never will unless forced.
Wow…
Price of round-trip plane ticket to Mexico: $280,
Good, English-speaking, professionally certified Mexican dentist to do ALL your work AT ONCE: $600-800?
Hotel stay: $100
Telling American dentists to kiss your ass: priceless.
FWIW, you will save money and have good work done at a dental school. If you don’t mind putting in the time you will definitely save. I had a lot of work done at the Univ of PA dental school and it cost me about half of what I would have paid. They don’t charge for visits, just materials. It took several months before I was assigned to my dentist though, and it’s a long process.
I had a root canal a while back - was it two years ago now? - and I think the total cost was like $450 all in (most of which was covered by insurance.)
Thing is though, sometimes you can’t wait that long – if the tooth has to be taken care of immediately, and they can’t fit you in right away. It sucks, doesn’t it?
First, you said that the dentist said that the crown would cost $1,000 and later that the implant would be $5,000. I thought a crown was an implant? So what’s the difference?
Second, every time my dentist has suggested anything out of the ordinary, he’s started with a detailed printed treatment plan, including a description of the treatment and a breakdown of the cost (both covered by insurance and out of pocket). Didn’t your dentist do this for you? Or did he just surprise you with a $1,400 bill after the fact?
This part is easy, call up several dentists and endodontists and say “Hi, I need a root canal, do you offer payment plans?” IME there are plenty of both that do. Ask them what the average cost of their portion of the work is and see if you can come up with a plan.
Don’t forget, you’re not just paying for materials. You’re paying for equipment, dental school, malpractice insurance, assistants, overhead costs, experience, and yes, profit.
Also, if you call several different doctors, you’ll find you if what you quoted is more or less the going rate in the area or if you are being charged too much.
IANAD, but I have had a root canal.
sometimes when the infection is bad, the dentist can’t do it all in one visit. He has to drain the pus/gloop out of the root, and give antibiotics so the swelling and infection goes away before the actual work can be done.
That is what I went through. Og did it feel good when he started draining it out, and the pain I had lived with for 5 days went away.
Crowns are not implants. A crown is a cap put over what is left of your natural tooth. If they have to totally remove your tooth, then they have to do an implant.
My wife is in the middle of an implant procedure right now, about $3,500 worth, they have to build up the bone under the implant before the work can be done.
don’t forget that you are not just paying for the dentist’s machine, but his time, training, and skill also. Not to mention his office staff, lights, water, insurance and a portion of every other expense he has. Plus hopefully the guy makes a profit so he will be in business next year when I need my teeth cleaned.
Nope, they’re different; a crown is attached to the existing base of the tooth that’s left in place. An implant involves pulling the entire tooth, implanting a metal (or other material) peg into the socket, and attaching a fake tooth over the peg after the bone’s all healed up. A much more involved, and more permanent solution, hence the price tag.
As for the multiple visits for a root canal - sometimes, the dentist can’t kill the nerve completely on the first try. My mother had one like that. Putting a crown over an incomplete root canal and then having to remove it to repeat the procedure - well, urgh, you don’t want to do that.
FORD2, you already have an essentially identical thread running in General Questions. Per our user registration agreement, cross-posting the same thread to multiple forums is not allowed. No warning issued, but please familiarize yourself with the registration agreement.
To clarify, for FORD2’s benefit, when I closed the first thread in GQ I made the following comment:
The subsequent thread posted in GQ was OK. However, your Pit thread should not have simply repeated the original thread - it should have been restricted mainly to ranting. Otherwise it is basically just posting the same thread in two different forums.