I am 63 and have always had good teeth with few cavities. All of a sudden everything seems to be falling apart. First, I was told I needed scaling and planing. They originally told me it would be $2300 with our supplemental dental insurance. I was very assertive and they were just cheerfully charging me wrong and the bill ended up $900 only because I advocated for myself. Next they tell me I need crown lengthening on the back molar on the top. I couldn't believe it was $2100. I don't get how I had a serious undetected problem when I go to the dentist regularly. The worst of all is I go for the CL and only then discover that it is preliminary to getting a crown on that tooth--more big money!! The endodontist says I have to have it because there is still decay there that he didn't remove because that wasn't his job. As far as I can tell, the gum is just healing together over where this tooth was, so I guess pnly "lengthened" roots remain--and expensive ones at that. My main question is can I just get some kind of spacer for that tooth that will maintain the structure (since that was the reason they said it would be oh so bad to just pull it) and I don't really miss the tooth and it doesn't show? I assume a spacer would be a lot less expensive than a crown and I am very sick of giving the dentist all my money.

BTW, we have BC/BS insurance and it pays virtually nothing for dentists, so we also have a supplemental plan that has really bailed us out several times. It is only about $100 /year and is effective immediately. I feel so bad for people without dental insurance, and I suggest you check something like this out.

Thanks for any info,

seafarer,
I need a little more info. I take it the molar has had a root canal done on it. How long ago was it done? How much of the tooth is left? Is the crown of the tooth completely missing and only the roots present? Where on earth do you live that dentists charge so much??

Well, darn, I live in Raleigh, NC. Are we really that much higher? No one mentioned this was a tooth that had a previous root canal, so I am not sure. I didn't think it was, but it may have. I had a rc done about 5 years ago, but I am sure it was on the other side. As far as I know, there is no crown left at all; there is certainly nothing above the healing gum.

What I am especially worried about is this periodontist x rayed all my teeth to see if there were any other problems, and I SURE hope he doesn't find more like this. Who can afford this mess? At first BC/BS told me they wouldn't cover it at all, and then after perseverance, they decided it would be covered at 70-85% because it was oral surgery. (I have yet to be reimbursed though.) However, he is not a preferred provider, but there were no preferred periodontists in our area, so I am hoping I can get the 85%.

Thanks for answering.

seafarer,
The reason I mentioned root canal is because you said " The endodontist says I have to have it because there is still decay there". An endodontist is a specialist who does root canals. I'm sorry if I misunderstood.

If there is decay and the tooth is broken right to the gumline there is definitely a chance that you will need a root canal in the future.

As for the question regarding a spacer. Yes, you could have the tooth removed and ask them to place a space maintainer to prevent movement of remaining teeth. The problem you may face is with eating. Food will fall into the space.

I was wrong. I said endodontist when I should have said periodontist. The dentist originally just said I had a cavity below the gum line and that's why I had to go to the periodontist. I feel bamboozled because I had no idea they were just going to come up with more and more expensive ideas. I would have just had the tooth pulled, problems or not.