Root canal or extraction?

[MrSquished]

being uninsured i go to a dental school. the prices there are insane (as in cheap). i got a great third year student who is excellent. professors aka full dentists check over everything multiple times. the work done has been excellent.

around here in NJ at a nice dentist office a veneer is easily $1k. at UMDNJ Rugters dental school? around $200. and differences like that are for pretty much any procedure.

 

[Slew Foot]

its cheaper to fly to the bahamas and have an implant done than to have one done in the us. US dentists are that bad a ripoff

 

[Xstatic1]

Get an implant locally.

OR

I second others' suggestion to go to other countries for dentalwork. If you do your homework (find testimonials/reviews for which dentists to go to), you will pay significantly less money.

 

[sze5003]

My mother had her teeth done in her home country in Romania. She was going there on vacation so she paid like $300 bucks for fillings and a crowns. Her teeth are pretty decent according to what she tells me that people say to her.

I'll have to go and look for an endodontist even though the dentist I went to also does root canals. Maybe with an endodontist they will numb me properly.

I'm hoping the root canal will work this time as I really will have issues paying for an implant.

 

[alkemyst]

If at all possible, avoid extraction. Extraction is permanent, after that you're always going to be dealing with bridges/implants etc and it's going to be a pain. If they can successfully do the root canal and then the crown, it's the best outcome. If they fail at the root canal, you can always still do an extraction.

QFT. Of course, sadly; this has to do a lot with cost.

I'd also research the dentists (oral surgeons) in your area and find out where other dentists/oral surgeons go for their work.

 

[alkemyst]

US dentistry is the biggest f**King rip-off. My GF is a Dental Office Manager and the $$$ just freaking flows in. Its the biggest rip-off. OP, see if there is a dental training school in your area. I know there is one in manhattan that costs a fraction of what these park avenue dentist will charge you. YMMV tho.

WOW BRO!

Why not just enlist in the military for free dental work while you are at it.

Oyeve is a great handle though...

 

[sze5003]

QFT. Of course, sadly; this has to do a lot with cost.

I'd also research the dentists (oral surgeons) in your area and find out where other dentists/oral surgeons go for their work.

No wonder the extraction is cheaper with insurance I would pay $68 bucks. But of course you can't just have a hole there so the rest of the cost will be the bridge or implant.

Does anyone know of a website where you can search up endodontists and read reviews?

I normally Google them but find little info other than the school they went to.

I think the DMD I went to is just a dentist that does root canals, fillings, extractions, pretty much everything. This is probably why 9 years ago when this molar had a cavity and he tried to root canal it he had to stop since no matter how many injections I got I still felt sharp shooting pain when he got to a certain area with the drill.

I also dont think I can have the root canal done while there is an infection so my guess is I need to finish the antibiotics before that. There are a ton of endodontists within 5-10 miles of me that all take my insurance. I assume they also do the crown as well if the root canal is successful.

Everywhere I read says a root canal should not have any pain and I guess that experience I had was horrible so that's why I'm worried that it would not go through.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Get the root canal...my implant was $10,000.
naturally the tooth was made of solid 24K Gold with a diamond on top....

 

[Newfangle9]

I'm lurker on this forum pretty much, and have been for a long time. I needed major dental work done, and was quoted 30k for it all here in Calif. Then I heard about dental work in Costa Rica. I had looked into getting it done in Mexico, but things were a little creepy there at the time. My total there was less than 12k. It took two trips because they don't do the new smile in one day thing, so i flew back down six months later so all the bone grafts and implants could grow in and take hold. So all my work, two round trips from LAX about two and a half weeks in a hotel fit into that total. This Dental office is fantastic, They have their own dental lab on site, so very little waiting time for crowns and bridges etc. They can't do the twilight sleep. Was told it's illegal outside of a hospital there. Anyway, check out their site. This was by far the best time i have ever had in a dental chair. It's been about two years now, and I couldn't be happi

Also, if anyone decides to go be sure and join this site to get your card. Most places in Barrio Amon (San Jose) accept it and it will pay for itself and more very quickly. I saved a couple thousand on crowns alone (lot's needed).

http://costaricadentalteam.com/

Hope this isn't too inappropriate. You have to join and register to see most of it.

http://costaricaticas.com/
PS: If i can figure out how to resize them i can post before and after pics.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Now the first time I had an issue with this tooth they tried a root canal and didn't complete it because I was in too much pain. So they drilled as much as they could I suppose and capped it.

Lol WHAT?

No joke, you shouldn't be feeling it at all. They didn't numb you down enough. I had at least 9, no typo, 9 root canals in boot camp of all places. Didn't feel a thing except for one, and that time I asked for more numbing and that worked. Getting my wisdom teeth pulled there was 50x worse.

 

[Yossarian]

I found this forum http://www.dentaltwins.net/dentalchat/viewforum.php?f=5 very helpful when I was considering dental options last year. It's run by two dentist brothers who provide a lot of free advice and intelligent opinions.

 

[sze5003]

I found this forum http://www.dentaltwins.net/dentalchat/viewforum.php?f=5 very helpful when I was considering dental options last year. It's run by two dentist brothers who provide a lot of free advice and intelligent opinions.

Cool I'm going to check that out too. I'm worried that the root canal may not do anything. The infection shown to me on the x Ray showed a dark spot under the tooth, not in the middle of it or anything.

I will be scheduling another appointment with an endodontist sometime today. So far the ibuprofen 800mg has been helping keep pain away.

 

[Oyeve]

WOW BRO!

Why not just enlist in the military for free dental work while you are at it.

Oyeve is a great handle though...

Hehe, yeah, I have family members in the dental field so I know how much of a rip-off dentist are. My aunt is a dental tech and the markup is something like %2000. A filling cost the dentist literally under 10 bucks but they will charge you hundreds.

 

[NetWareHead]

They did not numb you or you had a bad anesthesia administration. In one sitting I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed and root canal on the tooth next to it. A few injections and I felt NOTHING. It was kind of amazing actually. This was even with the roots of the tooth breaking and the dentist needed to go digging in my gum for the rest of it. One time during the procedure, I signaled to the dentist that I did feel some pain and he injected some more. The only pain I felt was after the shot wore off but that was hours later and by that time I was happily in hydrocodone land.

 

[JEDIYoda]

wow-- you all use stuff to numb the gums when you have root canals or wisdom teeth pulled??
Just amazing!! In my day we told the dentist to hurry up and get it over with so we could go back to work......what`s with kids these days?

 

[moonbogg]

$500 for a root canal? WTF? I had to pay $1,400.00 for mine out of pocket then another grand for the damn crown. Where you guys getting root canals done for $500? Walmart or something?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Personally, I'd try to keep the tooth if at all possible. I also wouldn't get a bridge if you do extract. Implants are expensive and you'll have a gap for a while, but the quote you got for an implant seems pretty cheap and it's a molar which won't show a visible gap in most situations. Your root canal price also seems cheap. FYI, an extraction shouldn't hurt enough to make you take off work. The biggest issue is just dealing with bleeding/gauze in your mouth for several hours and then remembering not to give yourself dry socket.

 

[sze5003]

$500 for a root canal? WTF? I had to pay $1,400.00 for mine out of pocket then another grand for the damn crown. Where you guys getting root canals done for $500? Walmart or something?

The root canal from my dentist costs $950 but but with my insurance I would pay $275. But then I need to pay for the full crown.

Personally, I'd try to keep the tooth if at all possible. I also wouldn't get a bridge if you do extract. Implants are expensive and you'll have a gap for a while, but the quote you got for an implant seems pretty cheap and it's a molar which won't show a visible gap in most situations. Your root canal price also seems cheap. FYI, an extraction shouldn't hurt enough to make you take off work. The biggest issue is just dealing with bleeding/gauze in your mouth for several hours and then remembering not to give yourself dry socket.

I'm not sure if the 1300 is the actual number. This was the manager that explains the finances who told me about this price.

 

[sze5003]

Made an appointment with an endodontist only office for Monday. If the tooth has had a previous root canal then my deductible would be $550 out of pocket, if not then it would be $450.

Obviously since its an endodontist specialization area their prices are a lot more than the $275 that my dentist wants to charge me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd go with the root canal, the other route sounds like way more work (and pain) and possibility for future rework needed.

Also, don't you guys in the US have dental plans? Oddly dental stuff is not covered by our free healthcare here in Canada, but we still get dental plans through work and usually end up paying like 10 bucks or so out of pocket.

 

[sze5003]

I'd go with the root canal, the other route sounds like way more work (and pain) and possibility for future rework needed.

Also, don't you guys in the US have dental plans? Oddly dental stuff is not covered by our free healthcare here in Canada, but we still get dental plans through work and usually end up paying like 10 bucks or so out of pocket.

US dental plans are a joke. I found out I could have got the premium dental plan offered by work but I didn't know about it until just now since I never went except for cleanings and those are free.

My health and vision plan is excellent though.

 

[Wreckem]

$500 for a root canal? WTF? I had to pay $1,400.00 for mine out of pocket then another grand for the damn crown. Where you guys getting root canals done for $500? Walmart or something?

It pays to shop around.

I found a high quality local dentist chain that had their own dental discount plan. They have 8 offices across the DFW metro. The dentists who work in the chain own the chain and its not some national chop shop. I paid $94 for the plan. Then I paid $680 for a root canal. $688 for the crown.

And then $648 for widsom tooth removal which consisted of one normal extraction, one partially impacted extraction, and one partially impacted and partially bony extraction. I was previously quoted $2-3k for the wisdom teeth. Granted the dentist that performed this work is a general dentist who was cross trained in oral surgery and not an oral surgeon. He has only been in practice for a few years so both of those factors also helped with the cost. The dentist did a great job and I experienced no pain during the procedure and very little after. Same goes for the root canal. All told my dental work cost me $2500, when I had other dentists quoting me $4000 for two root canals and crowns neither of which were needed, as the one I got was in a completely different tooth Another for $8k for root canal + crown, 4 fillings, 4 quadrant root planning, and the wisdom teeth.

 

[esquared]

Cool I'm going to check that out too. I'm worried that the root canal may not do anything. The infection shown to me on the x Ray showed a dark spot under the tooth, not in the middle of it or anything.

I will be scheduling another appointment with an endodontist sometime today. So far the ibuprofen 800mg has been helping keep pain away.

If you went to an endodontist and he determined you had an infection, as you are descibimg from that xray, he would probably prescribe a couple days of Clindamycin before he started his work.

If there is a deep infection, many times amoxicillin/penicillin won't do squat.

I had this very thing. Lots of pain, but after a couple days on Clindamycin, the pain went away and the endodontist did the root canal.

Don't let a general dentist do a root canal. I had a couple done by my dentist back 15 or so years ago and they both had to be repeated by an endodontist later.

 

[Wreckem]

If you went to an endodontist and he determined you had an infection, as you are descibimg from that xray, he would probably prescribe a couple days of Clindamycin before he started his work.

If there is a deep infection, many times amoxicillin/penicillin won't do squat.

I had this very thing. Lots of pain, but after a couple days on Clindamycin, the pain went away and the endodontist did the root canal.

Don't let a general dentist do a root canal. I had a couple done by my dentist back 15 or so years ago and they both had to be repeated by an endodontist later.

General dentists these days are much more prepared at doing all sorts of specialized procedures. Dental technology has advanced so much since you had your root canals. But it comes down to how good a dentist a dentist is. A good general dentist wouldn't have a problem doing a root canal. Honestly I am not sure I'd consider the OPs dentist to be a good dentist.

 

[mvbighead]

If at all possible, avoid extraction. Extraction is permanent, after that you're always going to be dealing with bridges/implants etc and it's going to be a pain. If they can successfully do the root canal and then the crown, it's the best outcome. If they fail at the root canal, you can always still do an extraction.

Truly this. My wife's best friend is a dentist. My wife worked with that dentist for several years, and I've heard this time and again. If you can save the tooth, do that.