I have a friend that wants/needs to get dentures. He has had several teeth extracted and each time it has cost him (roughly) $75. He does not have insurance. He has decided that rather than try to fix what remaining teeth he has, he is going to opt to get dentures. He has approximately 20 teeth left.
He saved his money; at 20 teeth, $75 each, he needed $1500 to have them all pulled. He saved $3000 to cover the extractions, plus the cost of the dentures, figuring he could cover the rest in payments. He called several dentists, only to find that the cost of extraction for dentures was a minimum of $250 each!! So he needs $5000 just to cover the extractions, and that is not even touching the cost of the dentures.
The ironic part is that once he has the dentures, he will be eligible for a promotion at work, which will enable him get insurance to cover the cost!! 
He has asked me why there is such a difference in price, and I don’t know what to tell him. The only thing I can figure is that there are so many to be pulled at once… but I am not sure that is the answer. So why is there such a difference in the price of an extraction?
Dentist here. At our office extractions are extractions and the reason doesn’t change the cost. The type of extraction does, routine v. full bony impaction for example.
I used to see this as an advertisement on the back of the newspaper TV guide(remember those?). A couple of dentists would offer very cheap dentures with expensive extractions. If you had no teeth you couldn’t get the cheap denture. Like a loss leader of $1.00 a gallon milk at the grocery store to get you to buy something else.
I don’t now exact prices in our office, not my area, but a routine extraction is around $150 and full bony around $250. Prices vary widely between offices and around the country. If you are in Manhattan $250 my be about right around here a bit high. Also oral surgeons usually will be more expensive than a general dentist.
So why doesn’t he just get them all pulled where he got them done for $75 and get the denture done elsewhere? That is a way low price by the way. Was it recently?
Ball park numbers for denture are $1000-$1200 per unit. Upper or lower. So a full set is generally about $2200-$2500. My part of the country is on the lower cost side of everything YMMV. I’m thinking $4000-$5000 is about right and probably low for alot of places.
One last thing how does a denture make him eligible for a promotion v. natural teeth?
Hmm… I do not understand “full bony impaction.”
As far as “recently,” well, within the last 3 years… and that would be in Columbus, Ohio. He told me that the reason he did not go that route (pull them all elsewhere and get dentures somewhere else) is that “they” had told him to get the dentures fitted immediately after extraction, or they would never fit right.
I’m working on what he told me, I have not made any phone calls, I’m merely asking to discover why the price discrepancy…
About the last thing - he feels he cannot fix his natural teeth without an expenditure he cannot afford. Right now he works as a chef/head cook. After the dentures, he would be promoted to “head chef/kitchen manager,” because he would therefore be “presentable” to the public. The promotion would allow him to have dental insurance, as a manager. As a “cook,” he is not eligible.
rsat3acr: He works in a nice restaurant, and his teeth are bad. He is missing a couple in his smile, and of the ones you can see several are either broken off, or are black at the gum line. No matter how good the food is, people just don’t want to “give their compliments to the chef” if he looks like that.
So basically, the restaurant will promote him if he can put his best face forward, and if not, he’s just a damn good cook stuck in the kitchen!
A routine extraction would be a fully erupted tooth. Some teeth are not fully erupted such as wisdom teeth. If it is bumping into another tooth it is impacted. Think wisdom teeth. They can be impacted with some soft tissue over them or some bone over them. A bony impaction is much more work just as a root tip is more work then a complete tooth which is why they have different prices.
Getting the teeth out and the denture inserted the same day is called an immediate denture. It is the most common way to get a first denture. In actuality immediates don’t fit as well as a denture made after all the extractions and healing has taken place but most people don’t want full extractions and then to wait three to six months for a denture. Additionally one gets a more accurate impression of the gum tissue(where the denture sits) if there are no teeth in the way. So immediates are less well fitting but virtually always how it is done. Some one getting a subsequent denture almost always get a better fit then their first denture if it is immediate.
Jaw bone exists to hold teeth. When a tooth is removed the body begins to resorb the bone. This is fairly rapid at first and then slows but tends to continue for life. This is why people who have been toothless for a long time have such sunken faces when they take their dentures out.
With an immediate dentures the bone loss means that usually within a few months the denture doesn’t fit well. Usually this isn’t a big problem and the denture is relined, more material added to the base to make it fit better.
Might be worth getting second opinions. Other offices may charge different amounts.
Promotion situation makes sense.
Thank you for your answers. I will encourage my friend to make a couple more phone calls!
I have since talked to two other friends that have dentures. One of them was told the same thing - (different dentists) - to get them fitted the same day, or they won’t fit right. Additionally, she was told to not take them out for at least a week, even at night, and to* bite down on them, even if it hurt, to ensure a better fit.* (She* was* told to rinse with warm salt water twice a day…)
I understand a person’s desire to not be seen without teeth, but why are the dentists telling them this? Is it the money? I know unscrupulous people are in every profession, so are they banking on refitting the dentures later?
The other one was offered immediate dentures, but decided to wait two weeks to let her gums heal. She complains that now she whistles when she says the letter “S,” and she never did before. Is this something she has to re-learn? Is enunciation dependent on the fit of the dentures? She seems to think that if she gets different dentures, this will eliminate the problem. Is there something a dentist can do to help with enunciation?
Also, is there anything that can be done to strengthen the jaw bone?
Thanks again for any enlightenment you can provide me!! 
The reason to not take them out the first night(never heard anyone say a week) is that if you took them out you would get swelling in the gums and than would not be able to get them back in until all the swelling resolved. Several days to a couple of weeks.
Biting the into place is not what makes a good fit, good fabrications is. Sore is okay but hurt is not.
Two weeks to heal after full extractions is nowhere near enough time 6-8 weeks in minimum. This is why virtually all new dentures are immediate not traditional.
Refitting the dentures later is called a reline. One should always expect to have to do it to an immediate denture. Most guys I know include one reline in the price of the denture. Some don’t but the patient should always be told it will need to be done. Usually sometime from three months to a year later. It can also be done on older dentures also as opposed to making a new one. Usually takes a day at the lab.
Whistling on the S sound is a function of tooth placement. Dentist didn’t get it right during the set up. Also now having plastic on the roof of the mouth contributes.
Nothing I know of strengthens the jaw. Proper nutrition of course helps so that there are enough minerals. Once the teeth are removed the body starts resorbing the bone so the longer one goes without teeth the more bone is lost. this is why we don’t want to pull teeth unless needed.
Yes there are dentists that are unscrupulous and others that are incompetent or don’t care. I hate them they make my job harder.
You are quite welcome, happy to help any way I can.