Murphy's Law

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgal It's for one including the final crown. Oddly the last one I had was back when I lived in Orange County- the oral surgeon was in Newport Beach so theoretically one might think he would have been super expensive but it was only 5k total. This guy is in St Louis where it seems like things would be less expensive because of the area. I wish I could have a "don't care" attitude about a missing canine for 9 months!!! Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Is his office on the St. Alban's golf course or something? I agree with Karen. Check around. I had a co-worker lose a front tooth a couple years back and I could have sworn it was more in the $4k range. So Karens numbers would appear more reasonable to me.


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[Rustic23]

Friend here in Tx need dental implants. Went to Mexico. Got a full set of front uppers for a couple thousand. Going south of the border seems to be a popular thing for implants.

just googled it, don't have a clue if this is good or bad, just and example.

Prices - Rio Grande Dental

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgal I'm going to for sure. I called my general dentist who originally referred me to the guy and told him in wanted another name. Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

I spent 12K for what turned out to be two implants. It was also canine tooth but then Hawaii tends to be more expensive than the rest of the country for many things.

It turned out to be a nightmare with whole process lasting 4 years. I had a variety of temp teeth which worked out ok. My dentist is generally pretty reasonable, but the oral surgeon was expensive.

[Bamaman]

Have you gotten bids from other dentists? $9K is excessive--probably 2x or more than a normal price.


Another option would be to take a medical tourism trip to Budapest. You could spend 2 weeks there hitting the grunge bars and more than pay for your trip with the savings. Their dental practices are full of Englishmen flying budget airlines getting work done.


The Mexican border is also full of really good dentists--most of which do perfectly good dental work by U.S. standards. Many stay in Yuma, Arizona while getting their dental work done.

[irishgal]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I am getting another opinion, I am getting the implant done for sure, need to find the right oral surgeon.

Today I got a card in the mail from the oral surgeon I saw last week- it was rather bizarre it read: "it was nice meeting you and I'm looking forward to working on your VERY HOPELESS TOOTH".

I am hoping that maybe he has an 8 year old kid who writes these cards........


Wild Irish Rogue

[Totoro]

Have you considered medical tourism for this?

At such prices a return flight ticket and a few hotel nights is the least of your worry.

[irishgal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Totoro Have you considered medical tourism for this? At such prices a return flight ticket and a few hotel nights is the least of your worry.

The only reason I hesitate is because I think this is going to be a 4 visit gig.
Factor in the possibility of any issues that arise during the process and I think I should try to do it in the U.S.


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[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyBoy5 I think dental "insurance" is one of the biggest scams out there.

Truer words are seldom spoken.

And speaking of dentist. My dentist and I get along really well. We both like exotic sports cars, and I'm pretty sure between the DW and I, we probably bought his last Porsche (or at least some of the major upgrades). Even though my mouth is usually open when I see him in his office, he still does most of the talking.

[Dog]

I've been very fortunate with my health and typically just have the typical female exams for preventative care. However, my dental costs are a different story. Lots of crowns to replace cracked fillings over the years. I think half of my teeth have crowns. I have always faithful to my six month check ups too. Thankfully no implants yet 😦


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[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgal The only reason I hesitate is because I think this is going to be a 4 visit gig. Factor in the possibility of any issues that arise during the process and I think I should try to do it in the U.S. Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

That's wise. I seriously considered going to Thailand for my implant, since I had a painless and very cheap dentist visit while I was in Bangkok.

I was figuring on two or 3 visits and since I thoroughly enjoyed the place, not a big deal.

My implant was a Murphy's law situation I had a least 30 dentist visit over the 4 1/2 year period. Needless to say the travel cost would have outweigh the dental cost after the first 4 or 5 trips.

[iac1003]

I have a friend with a house in Spain (we should all be so lucky) and she spends 6 months there and 6 months stateside. She needed a lot of dental work and had it done there. Then she came back here and had a good deal of it redone!

In NYC some people of only moderate means use the clinics at the best dental schools (NYU, Columbia Presbyterian) to have their implants done. It takes more visits but the supervising dentists are top notch and are there in the room guiding the dental students who by that time are mostly doing postgraduate work.

I know of a few people who have taken that route and been very pleased. One coworker's dentist suggested it to her and he was the supervisor. It wasn't cheap but it was a lot cheaper than that done in a private office.


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[freebird5825]

Has your dentist talked about the Valplast flexible partial denture product, versus an implant ? If you have sound teeth on either side of the bad one, it could be an option.

I have been using (and successfully eating with) 2 separate flexible partial dentures since March. No metal, no palate coverage, just two little pop-in appliances. I have both a single and a double tooth model, on opposite sides of my upper mouth. My problem teeth were molars.

Here are some photos to give you an idea of the possibilities for single tooth applications.
http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...g_coinis_15_19

After the initial comfort adjustment (one time deal going back to dentist) and my gums getting used to the pop-ins, I am a happy camper. After eating, I pop them out, rinse them off and rinse my mouth, and pop them back in. Piece of cake.

[Mtek]

Costa Rica. Dw had 7 implants and 14 crowns for 20K
(2) trips a year apart. There was a healing issue to one of her gums and she returned for 2shorter trips.
Dental costs were done at no cost to us but we paid for travel expenses
I laugh at US dentist


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[ProspectiveBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mtek Dental costs were done at no cost to us but we paid for travel expenses

Dentists in Costa Rica work for free?

[irishgal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Has your dentist talked about the Valplast flexible partial denture product, versus an implant ? If you have sound teeth on either side of the bad one, it could be an option. I have been using (and successfully eating with) 2 separate flexible partial dentures since March. No metal, no palate coverage, just two little pop-in appliances. I have both a single and a double tooth model, on opposite sides of my upper mouth. My problem teeth were molars. Here are some photos to give you an idea of the possibilities for single tooth applications. http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...g_coinis_15_19 After the initial comfort adjustment (one time deal going back to dentist) and my gums getting used to the pop-ins, I am a happy camper. After eating, I pop them out, rinse them off and rinse my mouth, and pop them back in. Piece of cake.

Sorry I thought I had replied to this!

I have a crown on one side so the temps cannot be placed without damage to the current crown.

I'm really procrastinating on getting this all started.


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[Mtek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProspectiveBum Dentists in Costa Rica work for free?

No we paid for the original work (20k). The repair of a non healing gum (bone graph and gum graph) were done for free since it was caused by their error in damaging the gum and bone with 1of the implants



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[irishgal]

I wanted to give an update only because I thought it would be fun to read what others would do in my situation.
Got the tooth extracted today, will go back in 7 weeks for the bone grafting.
Meanwhile I have a device called a "flipper" that is like a partial so that there is a cosmetic but non functional tooth in place. The tooth in question is an upper canine.

Have to take the device out when eating which is sort of gross if you are out with people IMO.

So--- would you say to heck with it and just be toothless for 8 months or would you use the flipper for cosmetic reasons?

My guess is a lot of the men here will say "naw, loose the uncomfortable flipper" but will the women say the same??


Wild Irish Rogue

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgal So--- would you say to heck with it and just be toothless for 8 months or would you use the flipper for cosmetic reasons?

I'd probably use it.

I didn't think the cost of my implant was too bad, by the way, because it was spread out over a year or so. If I had to pay it all at once, it would have been quite a blow. And mine only cost $3450.

With mine, I went toothless but it was a premolar so it only showed if I smiled. I am so glad to have my implant in place by now!

[irishgal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I'd probably use it. I didn't think the cost of my implant was too bad, by the way, because it was spread out over a year or so. If I had to pay it all at once, it would have been quite a blow. And mine only cost $3450. With mine, I went toothless but it was a premolar so it only showed if I smiled. I am so glad to have my implant in place by now!

Wow, yours was priced way lower. 😪
So if you used it and went to eat with friends, would you warn them before you took it out or just try to be sneaky? Or none of the above? 😎


Wild Irish Rogue

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgal ..... So if you used it and went to eat with friends, would you warn them before you took it out or just try to be sneaky? Or none of the above?

I would wear it for sure. And would discuss it with them. And order something like soup or pasta that I could still eat. A friend just went through this, with several teeth temporarily replaced with a flipper, and could still eat foods like this when we met for lunch--but really we just needed to be together and the eating was secondary.

DH also had exactly your situation and chose to be sneaky about it (at DS's wedding--nice timing to break a tooth) and just stick the flipper in his pocket when eating. I don't think anyone noticed and he refused to not enjoy all the meals. Maybe a guy thing.

Good luck!