High dental bills? I sympathize!

[W2R]

Told the kids last year "I am now officially old" after my first root canal/crown last year.

I had my first root canal/crown at age 17.

 

[Walt34]

Well, lessee, about 20 years ago I had a crown put in that cost $600, and about five years ago a second crown was $900 here in WV.

Small potatoes compared to the rest of you so I'm not complaining a bit. But hey, I'm only 67 so hopefully there is plenty of time for things to get worse.

 

[athena53]

DW and I are very lucky. I'm lucky that I have not had a cavity, or any thing besides cleanings since I was early teenager. (Knock on wood).

I was like the little kid in a toothpaste commercial I once saw, wailing, "How can I have that many cavities- I don't have that many teeth!" My 4 siblings and I ate substantially the same diet, all had regular checkups, and only two went cavity-free for years. That ended for my brother when he started driving himself to and from football practice and would buy a bag of candy on the way home; my sister never had a filling till she got out of college. Some of it is genetics; some of it is preventable.

 

[MRG]

I was just told that I need a crown (I have decay under the filling) plus some other cavities, abnormal amount for me.
Did any of you get a second opinion? I don’t have any symptoms and dentist wants to do this right away, so I’m not comfortable with diagnosis. Just wondering those who have needed expensive dental work knew they needed it.

Never had a second opinion. I dont think decay has any symptoms others than visual. My last dentist and I had a 25 year history. As far as I was concerned she walked on water.

We moved a year ago and I have a new dentist. First checkup and he says I need two crowns replaced! WTH? Did I say my last dentist walked on water? How could this be?

I went along with it as I knew the one crown was 25 years old too. He does both and everything is a OK. Six months later I have a toothache(I'm a heavy grinder) and I can see the crown on that tooth has broken.

I went in fully expecting a third new crown. He tells me that crowns broken, but not the source(in his opinion) of the pain. He refers me to an endodontist for the procedure. Sure enough it's a dead tooth.

Point is he could have sold me a crown, pocketed a quick 1400. He did the right thing. Since then I've had two other healthcare folks in the community who have positively mentioned him.

Personally I'd go online and check out comments, knowing half are b.s. Also did you ask to see the xray? You can probably see the decay as well as the dentist.

 

[socca]

My long-time dentist (50s male) recently acquired a pretty young partner who looks about 16. On my last visit, she seemed rather disturbed by the lack of profit opportunities in my mouth. She said that I needed a crown and then quickly corrected herself after I frowned to say that I'm a long way from needing a crown.

I've always been very aggressive on the oral hygiene front and have also had no major dental work and only a little minor dental work (cavities filled). This website has frightened me into budgeting a substantial amount for future dental expenses.

 

[Pilot2013]

I was like the little kid in a toothpaste commercial I once saw, wailing, "How can I have that many cavities- I don't have that many teeth!" My 4 siblings and I ate substantially the same diet, all had regular checkups, and only two went cavity-free for years. That ended for my brother when he started driving himself to and from football practice and would buy a bag of candy on the way home; my sister never had a filling till she got out of college. Some of it is genetics; some of it is preventable.

I was a Navy brat, and I am convinced to this day that the Navy dentists experimented on my sister and I. We used to sit, every 6 months, for 45 minutes with trays filled to the brim with a god-awful cherry tasting fluoride treatment and a suction tube. My teeth are in really good shape for yours now, but I may have holes in my brain or something else from all of the fluoride!

 

[Fermion]

I had not gone to the dentist in two years, don't floss. Had x-rays and cleaning last week, no cavities, gums look good, no bone loss or problems.

$129

 

[aja8888]

I had not gone to the dentist in two years, don't floss. Had x-rays and cleaning last week, no cavities, gums look good, no bone loss or problems.

$129

Is this result another benefit of living in the PNW?

 

[donheff]

Same here. I had an implant done last year and am working on two more now. Both cases required bone grafts. I enrolled in a Federal dental plan last year since my dentist and oral surgeon both participate and the costs work out with all the repairs DW and and I are facing. I finally bought a water pick a month ago and am trying to take better care of my gums. I dread the thought of dealing with all of this dental work in my late 80s.

 

[athena53]

I dread the thought of dealing with all of this dental work in my late 80s.

I've had the same thought. Dental care in LTC facilities isn't always guaranteed and, to be fair, as some people lose their cognitive skills, they can't be bothered with scrupulous dental hygiene and may fight someone who's trying to clean their teeth. I actually discussed this with my dentist, whose father is in memory care. He said that at least now they're permitting hygienists in to do cleaning (previously the laws required that they be supervised by a dentist). My uncle, also in memory care, flushed a couple of partial plates down the toilet back when he was mobile enough to use the bathroom by himself.

Fortunately, I have a few years before I hit my 80s.

 

[kcowan]

Exactly! Like I told my dentist, my teeth are my number one priority right now.

and people with rotten teeth suffer other health problems too.

A friend had the bacteria settle on her aortic valve requiring open heart surgery.

 

[ncbill]

I've had the same thought. Dental care in LTC facilities isn't always guaranteed and, to be fair, as some people lose their cognitive skills, they can't be bothered with scrupulous dental hygiene and may fight someone who's trying to clean their teeth.

yeah, mom tried to eat anything put in her mouth (almost like pica) in the latter stages of her dementia.

she already had a mouth full of crowns, but due to her disease resulting in the above behavior, she soon had to have back teeth removed.

 

[Janet H]

I had not gone to the dentist in two years, don't floss. Had x-rays and cleaning last week, no cavities, gums look good, no bone loss or problems.

$129

I'm sorry - you'll need to find another thread... you're messing with the average $$ in this one

Is this result another benefit of living in the PNW?

No - I live in the PNW and have spent about 12 K in the past 3 years. Averaged over the last 20 years it's been about 2 K per year out of pocket. Insurance has picked up very little (Fed Blue Cross). One notable year I spent 7,000 and had insurance pick up 547.00.

Just last year we had the option to buy dental insurance (first time ever) through GEHA and JUMPED on the high plan. While I'm not looking forward to more procedures I am looking forward to reduced out of pocket expenses.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My friend was in a home and she was lucky to get a shower let alone have someone brush her teeth. She no longer could do any of these things for herself because she forgot how. Also as the disease progressed she got combative when people tried to help her shower, etc. She was always very mild mannered.

 

[braumeister]

I'm feeling very lucky after reading many of these stories.

We've spent around $6K over the last five years on dental bills, but that includes one implant, two crowns, and some reconstructive work for DW after she slipped on the ice and broke a front tooth.

DW gets a cleaning twice a year, I get one annually, but we both floss and brush regularly. We have a great dentist that DW has been going to for more than 40 years. Amazingly, his daughter always wanted to follow in his footsteps and she is now the dentist while he just fills in to help her and is gradually easing into retirement. So the practice still has the same name (it has alway been just the one dentist) and the daughter is excellent as well (she credits her dad as her mentor).

 

[irishgal]

Last year 2 implants which were about 6k each, the final crowns were another 1300.
However I feel lucky that I can afford good dental care AND that there is great technology in dentistry.

 

[Helen]

Wow, W2R, that's a lot of money in a short amount of time!

My parents paid for a lot of my (and my brother's) dental work. We both had soft teeth and had A LOT of fillings in both baby and permanent teeth, 12 baby teeth pulled (they wouldn't fall out on their own) four permanent teeth and my four wisdom teeth were impacted and cost them two nights in the hospital, and we both had braces.

I paid for a lot of additional fillings, at least four crowns and two or three root canals.

Since having my molars crowned about eight years ago I have only had to pay for cleanings and xrays. I floss at least twice a day and brush at least that much plus use mouth wash.

As others have said, teeth problems can lead to very serious health problems. I will pour as much money into my teeth as needed to stay healthy.

 

[Focus]

I know this is in my future, since genetic periodontal issues surfaced in my 20s. Thanks to some major grafts and good home care, I've been able to avoid implants so far.

When the time comes, it's going to be challenging to figure out the best strategy. I can't imagine doing just one implant at a time, when surrounding teeth are likely to eventually go too.

 

[aja8888]

Got my two implants this morning. Bill was a shade over $4600. That was after a 10% senior's discount (had to ask for it - I'm not shy).

I assume the crowns will be around $3K total in about 3 months from now.

 

[IMATERP]

i resemble all of your remarks and I can sympathize. I actually had a good year - one root canal and one crown. I think I paid $850 out of pocket.
Several years ago, I graduated to two implants and a partial. The cost was $8,000 and I spent three years agonizing weather to do this or just get dentures. I am very happy with the work and grateful to have bit the bullet.

I

 

[W2R]

Got my two implants this morning. Bill was a shade over $4600. That was after a 10% senior's discount (had to ask for it - I'm not shy).

I assume the crowns will be around $3K total in about 3 months from now.

Glad everything went well, and that it is over now. Yes, I paid for crowns for my two implants in September, and the total for both was exactly $3,000.00 so that is a reasonable estimate. My two implants cost $4800 last March, so you got a better deal on that than I did.

 

[teejayevans]

Might be cheaper for some of you to go full dentures, if cost was primary concern?

 

[mathjak107]

This is a thread for posts from those of us with crummy teeth, to complain about the resulting high bills from dentists and/or oral surgeons.

Those without crummy teeth can just grin like Cheshire Cats as they read the thread, and self congratulate on your superb oral hygiene and obvious superiority in keeping up with your teeth.

Those who are not yet retired, may find this useful in trying to predict their retirement spending.

ANYWAY.... here's what I paid over the last 5 years, including payments to my dentist (for root canals, cavities, crowns, xrays, cleaning), to my oral surgeon (for five implants), and for drugs they prescribed:

2017: $8,135
2016: $6,050
2015: $2,362
2014: $220
2013: $3,221

That adds up to $19,988 (almost $20K! ) over just five years. Good thing I have some wiggle room for unexpected expenses in my spending allotment. And no, I don't want to travel even a mile farther for my dentistry, much less to some banana republic, just to save a buck - - I like my dentist.

How about you? Anybody spend a lot on dental work in the past five years? Misery loves company so that's why I'm asking.

we are at over 40k the last 7 years or so . i needed the entire bottom implanted . then i rejected some years later and had to re do them last year .

now the last few years my wife has all kinds of issues .

 

[mathjak107]

Might be cheaper for some of you to go full dentures, if cost was primary concern?

full dentures on the top are livable . no problem .

depending on your jaw the bottom can suck! .

the motion of the tongue pops them loose all the time . i could not live like that at all so i ended up doing 6 implants and a full bridge that permanently goes over

 

[athena53]

Might be cheaper for some of you to go full dentures, if cost was primary concern?

No way. I've known people with dentures- you can ALMOST always tell (I can think of one friend who has them and I didn't know till he told me). From what I've seen/read, the jawbone shrinks over time because it doesn't get the stimulation from chewing that it gets when you have teeth, so even well-fitting dentures will need to be replaced from time to time. In some of the sadder cases I've seen, one woman actually has slightly garbled speech (I'm guessing she needs new dentures and can't afford them) and another friend went through 2 tubes of Poli-Grip every week.

I also eat mass quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which require vigorous chewing. I'm not sure how they'd work around my current implants if I needed a full set of them but I'd make it a financial priority if needed. I'm blessed that I can even think about it, I know.