Dental services are insanely expensive here!

[jelenap]

I was curious about this thread since we're moving to Raleigh soon, but the prices don't seem as outrageous to me. In MD 800$ for a root canal is a rather average price and my husband's recent resin filling was 240$. Crowns run anywhere from 900$ to 1200$. We have dental but it covers only 50% of restorative services.

[lovebrentwood]

Our first mortgage for our first home, a 4-bedroom, 2-garage home in mint condition in about 1977, was $20,000 (with $5K down).

So from my perspective, dental work for $20K sounds just a little pricey.

This is what I learned... the American Dental Association concluded that both amalgam and composite materials are considered safe and effective for tooth restoration, and a study stated that amalgam fillings pose no personal health risk, and replacement by non-amalgam fillings is not indicated.

Originally Posted by Matchell

I've lurked around the forum for years and decided to jump in this conversation. Haven't been to the dentist in about 10 years due to a bad root canal situation and the fear of that dreaded metal cleaning tool touching it. Anyway, thought sedation would help me through any cleaning and work that would probably need to be done. So I found me a dentist in Wake Forest that does sedation.

The office visit was wonderful and they were very careful around the root canal tooth -- no pain -- although I did tense up every time they got close. As we cleaned, flossed, sprayed I was informed that I needed to get my old lead fillings out (I kinda new that -- they were put in when I was a kid about 40 years or so ago). That would be new onlays. So my little brain was whirrling and I thought maybe a couple grand would get me on my way for everything. Boy, I got a rude awakening....Here's the price:

Onlay-Porcel/ceram-4 + surface $1,480 each (I need 3)
Resin composite-1s posterior (fillings) $280 each (I need 6)
Periodontal Therapy $330 each (I need 4)
6 week Supportive Periodontal $125

Total $7,565 and that does not even count the root canal situation that needs to be looked at.

Oh yeah, at first the bill was over $20 grand as they had thrown in veneers for 7 teeth -- ya know just to brighten that smile!

Do any of these prices sound almost reasonable?

Patsy