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How expensive is a root canal?

Muse

Muse

Lifer
My long time dentist tells me that the tooth pain I've been suffering is likely to end when I get a root canal. He gave me prescriptions for pain relief and antibiotics in case it gets bad and told me meantime I can monitor the situation. He also gave me a couple of referral slips to specialists he recommends who can do the root canal. He said that when it's done he can provide the filling that will complete the job. He said the root canal would be "expensive." I didn't ask "how expensive?" I figure that the filling will cost me $150-200, based on past experience, although I haven't had a filling in a long time. I've been living with the tooth pain for a year. Sometimes it's better, sometimes worse, but hasn't gotten to the point where I feel I have to "do it now." Of course, it will be nice to not have to experience the pain.

What kind of bill can I expect for the root canal itself?
 
Originally posted by: novasatori
$3000 said and done here

(root canal & crown)
Click to expand...

Um, I think the tooth already has a crown. For the root canal they'll have to drill down into it but when it's over the dentist will only have to do a filling. I believe he told me that.
 
Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
I'm guessing $500 if you pay cash. Around $550-600 if you use insurance.

Edit: For everything.
Click to expand...

You're forgetting the opportunity to sell the Vic or Oxy to offset the costs...
 
my dentist didn't have to send me to another dentist for this. but usually, you're suppose to get your root canal and a crown afterwards. it was quite exepnsive... i end up paying about $700 from my flex after the insurance (we have sucky insurance at work).
 
The root canal (and included filling) will cost between $650 - $1000. Most likely about $750. This includes two visits. The first visit to open the tooth, remove the root, and clean the canal. The second visit will be to fill the open cavity inside the tooth.

After the root canal, the tooth will be "dead" with no blood flow to nourish it. This means the tooth will dry out and become brittle over time. If the tooth becomes brittle enough that it cracks (and it will eventually), this crack could damage the tooth so much that the root of the tooth will be unable to support a cap, thereby requiring pulling the root out, drilling a stem into your jaw, and then putting the cap on that stem. Drilling the stem into the jaw is a painful/uncomfortable experience that requires the costs and precautions of surgery.

For this reason, the dentist will recommend drilling down the tooth to put a cap on it soon. This will be another $750.

I had a dead tooth (from root canal) last me 8 years without cracking before I put a cap on it. Every time I went to the dentist they would highly recommend putting a cap on it but I did not have the money while going to school and I gambled with that tooth.

There are several options you have available:
  • Pull the tooth and leave the space empty. This is the worst option for a young person because that empty space will cause the remaining teeth to drift into the open space, weakening the gums and spreading the teeth. This is the cheapest option but everyone will forever be able to see that this person does not have the money for dental care.
  • Pull the tooth, screw a post into the jaw (painful/uncomfortable), put a cap on the post. Again not the best option but sometimes necessary due to infections that require pulling the tooth. A poorly made root canal that perforates the canal may require pulling the tooth due to the infection this will cause.
  • Have the root canal, then wait a few years to acquire the money to pay for the cap. Again, this is gambling on the strength of that brittle tooth. If the tooth cracks, it will need to be pulled.
  • Have the root canal, sometime soon after have the cap put on. This is the best option but not everyone has the money available to pay for the cap.
 
Here in the Seattle area the root canal I had last year was $1,732 including drilling through the existing crown then patching the hole with resin. It was done by a surgeon not my normal dentist.

It was worth it to be pain-free and keep the tooth.
 
oh i forgot, you can also have the tooth pulled, and then have a dental surgeon put an implant post in. newer technology that some dental insurance will not cover, but you may be able to use your medical insurance to defray some cost at the dental surgeon.

 
Originally posted by: Pepsei
oh i forgot, you can also have the tooth pulled, and then have a dental surgeon put an implant post in. newer technology that some dental insurance will not cover, but you may be able to use your medical insurance to defray some cost at the dental surgeon.
Click to expand...

I always thought that keeping your own tooth in place as long as possible is the best option you can have. Anything foreign (posts, implants) is much worse, than a natural tooth, even drilled down and with a cap on.
 
Originally posted by: paulney
Originally posted by: Pepsei
oh i forgot, you can also have the tooth pulled, and then have a dental surgeon put an implant post in. newer technology that some dental insurance will not cover, but you may be able to use your medical insurance to defray some cost at the dental surgeon.
Click to expand...

I always thought that keeping your own tooth in place as long as possible is the best option you can have. Anything foreign (posts, implants) is much worse, than a natural tooth, even drilled down and with a cap on.
Click to expand...

true, that's what most dentists told me.

i had an osseointegrated implant in my right molar after the dentist who wanted to do the root canal and crown discovered that the tooth was cracked, he pulled it and recommended implant or bridge crown. in this case, i picked implant so that i don't need to damage two other tooth for the bridge.

a few months ago, i got a root canal and crown on my left molar. the procedure lasts longer than the implant (because i was out for most of it)

it doesn't feel any different now. except that implant costs a bit more.
 
Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
I'm guessing $500 if you pay cash. Around $550-600 if you use insurance.

Edit: For everything.
Click to expand...

Having no insurance for dental/etc. it will be cash... or credit card if it's all the same to them. $500 would be a big relief to me.

Reading this thread I realize that I knew next to nothing about root canals and the complex scenarios possible. There's already a full crown on the tooth, gold. I'm 95% sure that this is the culprit tooth. I had all my wisdom teeth removed long ago and this problem tooth is inside the last remaining molar, which is evidently in good shape with no fillings.

My dentist told me that the oral surgeon (I think that's who he's referring me to) will do the root canal, after positively identifying the tooth and then I will go back to my dentist for a filling. I was actually uncertain if the tooth was upper or lower, although I know the problem is on the left side. My dentist told me that it's common if not typical to have referred pain so that you don't know if the tooth is upper or lower but the oral surgeon will be able to positively identify the tooth quite easily.
 
Originally posted by: chusteczka
The root canal (and included filling) will cost between $650 - $1000. Most likely about $750. This includes two visits. The first visit to open the tooth, remove the root, and clean the canal. The second visit will be to fill the open cavity inside the tooth.

After the root canal, the tooth will be "dead" with no blood flow to nourish it. This means the tooth will dry out and become brittle over time. If the tooth becomes brittle enough that it cracks (and it will eventually), this crack could damage the tooth so much that the root of the tooth will be unable to support a cap, thereby requiring pulling the root out, drilling a stem into your jaw, and then putting the cap on that stem. Drilling the stem into the jaw is a painful/uncomfortable experience that requires the costs and precautions of surgery.

For this reason, the dentist will recommend drilling down the tooth to put a cap on it soon. This will be another $750.

I had a dead tooth (from root canal) last me 8 years without cracking before I put a cap on it. Every time I went to the dentist they would highly recommend putting a cap on it but I did not have the money while going to school and I gambled with that tooth.

There are several options you have available:
  • Pull the tooth and leave the space empty. This is the worst option for a young person because that empty space will cause the remaining teeth to drift into the open space, weakening the gums and spreading the teeth. This is the cheapest option but everyone will forever be able to see that this person does not have the money for dental care.
  • Pull the tooth, screw a post into the jaw (painful/uncomfortable), put a cap on the post. Again not the best option but sometimes necessary due to infections that require pulling the tooth. A poorly made root canal that perforates the canal may require pulling the tooth due to the infection this will cause.
  • Have the root canal, then wait a few years to acquire the money to pay for the cap. Again, this is gambling on the strength of that brittle tooth. If the tooth cracks, it will need to be pulled.
  • Have the root canal, sometime soon after have the cap put on. This is the best option but not everyone has the money available to pay for the cap.
Click to expand...

Would all this apply to me? I already have a full gold crown on this tooth. You can't see white enamel at all! To do the root canal they would drill into the tooth (I presume the center, and it's a lower tooth) and I am to go back to my dentist for a filling, which I presume will be gold, but don't know.
 
Would all this apply to me? I already have a full gold crown on this tooth. You can't see white enamel at all! To do the root canal they would drill into the tooth (I presume the center, and it's a lower tooth) and I am to go back to my dentist for a filling, which I presume will be gold, but don't know.
Click to expand...

This is what I described above. Tooth with a gold crown. Drill. Poke with swizzle sticks and pipe cleaners. Fill hole with resin. All done. Advil for the next 3-4 days for the pain and inflammation.

It sounds like your dentist thinks the surgeon won't do the resin filling to patch the crown as part of the root canal.

If the crown is too old the oral surgeon might recommend a new crown to replace the old one (= another $1,000 here).

 
it was going to cost me around $5000 for two root canals, thankfully temp. fillings seem to be working. I should be getting permanent fillings soon.
 
With Delta Dental insurance, I paid $250 for a #2 molar root canal and $450 for a natural colored crown.

I should have just got the tooth knocked out instead. 2 hours of watching Friends on DVD since that is all the dentist had at the time was most painful part of the procedure.
 
I went to a dentist today where everything is cheap (at least I think it was cheap).

$65 for exam, lower x-ray and cleaning
$200 for two fillings

Pretty good. Dont know if she knows wtf she is doing though cause I walked int here with a coupon... but she did graduate from boston university which I think is a great school.

I say look around
 
Originally posted by: brtspears2
With Delta Dental insurance, I paid $250 for a #2 molar root canal and $450 for a natural colored crown.

I should have just got the tooth knocked out instead. 2 hours of watching Friends on DVD since that is all the dentist had at the time was most painful part of the procedure.
Click to expand...

wow, not enough novacane?

my dentist gave me like a bucket of that stuff. didn't feel a thing until the nerves was exposed and he was killing/removing them. i felt a little dull pain, and raised my hand...

he immediately squirt more novacane directly to the exposed nerve.... works like a charm


you're right about the time... i was bored to death, should've asked him to turn on the cable tv.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Here in the Seattle area the root canal I had last year was $1,732 including drilling through the existing crown then patching the hole with resin. It was done by a surgeon not my normal dentist.

It was worth it to be pain-free and keep the tooth.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure it's worth it to me. Oddly, again the pain has subsided and it's only bothering me when I eat! Yeah, that sucks. It's when I eat hot food like soup. Probably with very cold things too, but I'm not doing that right now in the middle of winter. Sooner or later I guess I'm going to have to have this done! Thanks all for the help!
 
Originally posted by: brtspears2
With Delta Dental insurance, I paid $250 for a #2 molar root canal and $450 for a natural colored crown.

I should have just got the tooth knocked out instead. 2 hours of watching Friends on DVD since that is all the dentist had at the time was most painful part of the procedure.
Click to expand...
Oooo, I've never done anything like that in a doctor or dentist office. I suppose I should bring an MP3 player and music I think will help me and my mood during this. I don't know what to expect. I have only had fillings and crowns in the past, none for quite a while.

 
Originally posted by: Aimster
I went to a dentist today where everything is cheap (at least I think it was cheap).

$65 for exam, lower x-ray and cleaning
$200 for two fillings

Pretty good. Dont know if she knows wtf she is doing though cause I walked int here with a coupon... but she did graduate from boston university which I think is a great school.

I say look around
Click to expand...
My dentist gave me two recommendations for the root canal. Maybe I'll try to get quotes from both and lowball it. Those fees you indicate do look very good compared to my dentist, no question.

 
My wife just had one about six weeks ago, and it was just under $1000 for the root canal, and another $900 for the cap.
Still waiting to see how much is covered by insurance due to a snafu.
 
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