Update on tooth

[Khan]

Spent 1.5 hours at dentist, have temporary, back in 2 weeks for replacement crown; $1180; total for tooth: $2179.

What's the IRS rule for % of income?

 

[kumquat]

Wow, my only crown was 2 years ago:

• No root canal
• 1 hour dentist drilling, grinding, taking "computer pictures" and giving "computer instructions" to a machine
• 1/2 hour to watch the machine make the crown
• 1/2 hour for dentist to install
• Total $600 (but I may have gotten a "friend's rate")

Unfortunately, dentist/friend died last fall at 53 (no ER for him).

 

[LightningDawg]

I just got quotes for crown: $1500 per tooth.

 

[KingB]

Spent 1.5 hours at dentist, have temporary, back in 2 weeks for replacement crown; $1180; total for tooth: $2179.

What's the IRS rule for % of income?

You can only deduct the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your income.

 

[W2R]

Sorry that it will cost so much. At least it is almost done.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Khan, I hope your mouth feels better now--sorry it cost so much but it's money well spent.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I had crown work done 25 years ago and the crown finally failed with an abscess in the bone. I had the tooth taken out a month ago and the periodontist did a bone graft. I wait 3 months to get a dental implant and three months after that to have a final crown put in place. Dental insurance will cover the extraction and the crown as long as I don't exceed my $1,500/year max.
I think the implant is around $1800.
I also had a root canal and a crown done last year and just a crown at the beginning of this year. I also have some other periodontal issues which will have to be taken care of within the next year.

 

[bbbamI]

It's going to be around $3k for me to get a gum graft. I'll pay $2k and the insurance will pay the rest. I hope I don't have to have anything else done to my mouth this year.

Medical and dental bills will be high in the bbbamI household.

 

[GregLee]

I think the implant is around $1800.

My dentist quoted me $4500 per implant.

 

[easysurfer]

My dentist quoted me $4500 per implant.

That's about what I got too, $4500. But the good news is an implant does count as a qualifed expense if you have a HSA.

 

[Alan]

Khan, sorry to hear about your tooth, I hope you are feeling better now.

You can only deduct the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your income.

This is correct, but the 7.5% is all your medical including insurance payments (Medicare etc), prescriptions, eye doctor, eyeglasses and such.

If you use tax software, try doing a test run and itemizing your medical costs for 2010 to see what effect it has. If you are getting a tax benefit from your deductions then towards the end of the year you may consider any other medical costs you can bring forward to this tax year to save a little extra.

 

[JakeBrake]

DW required extensive dental work in 2009. Our dentist broke the work into two parts to max out her insurance benefits for 2009 and 2010. Now in 2011 we are back to normal maintenance which costs us nothing other than our montly premium through Megacorp retiree dental insurance.

 

[calmloki]

Cerac crown?

Wow, my only crown was 2 years ago:

• ..1 hour dentist drilling, grinding, taking "computer pictures" and giving "computer instructions" to a machine
• 1/2 hour to watch the machine make the crown
• 1/2 hour for dentist to install
• Total $600 (but I may have gotten a "friend's rate")

Unfortunately, dentist/friend died last fall at 53 (no ER for him).

 

[kumquat]

Not sure but I think so.

 

[frayne]

Khan, sorry to hear about your tooth, I hope you are feeling better now.



This is correct, but the 7.5% is all your medical including insurance payments (Medicare etc), prescriptions, eye doctor, eyeglasses and such.

If you use tax software, try doing a test run and itemizing your medical costs for 2010 to see what effect it has. If you are getting a tax benefit from your deductions then towards the end of the year you may consider any other medical costs you can bring forward to this tax year to save a little extra.

Threshold is moving up to 10% next year for most folks. Don 't ask me how I know this.

 

[Nords]

Threshold is moving up to 10% next year for most folks. Don 't ask me how I know this.

Nobody is really happy about achieving either threshold...

 

[Cato]

Just had the implant process completed (two implants) - @$2000 per implant, this does not include the Computerized Tomography mapping of the mandible, which IIRC was about $600. (all work done in Canada).

I am terrified of dentistry, I have only had Demerol twice in my life for pain and in both instances it was caused by dentists - both lovely, friendly and generally competent guys, but ............

 

[Alan]

Threshold is moving up to 10% next year for most folks. Don 't ask me how I know this.

That sucks, particularly for the low income sick folks, and you don't have to be very sick to run up bills > 7.5% of income, as OP shows with her tooth problem.

 

[Khan]

Total tooth cost is about equal to monthly pension payment.

 

[Amethyst]

So that's 8% right there - puts you over the threshhold.

Surprised you pay any taxes at all, Khan. Seems like you should not. I think large blood donations should be rewarded with some kind of tax credit.

Amethyst

Total tooth cost is about equal to monthly pension payment.

 

[braumeister]

That's kind of amazing. Last time I got a crown, about 5 years ago, the cost was a little over $600.

 

[Purron]

Total tooth cost is about equal to monthly pension payment.

Your cost seems quite high to me Khan. I live in the DC area where things are generally more expensive than the norm. I had a crown done 2 months ago for $1,305.30. It was a big, back tooth and not an easy job. I know because I've had several other crowns done in the past.

My dentist is highly respected and has a very popular practice. I suspect I could have had the work done for for even less by a another good dentist in the area. Bottom line, if you need more work done in the future, you might want to get a couple of estimates first.

 

[Khan]

BTW, I have the removed gold crown. Wonder if it's worth anything.

 

[calmloki]

Sold some of mine and have more to sell. They don't sell for as much as they cost.... They are about 14 carat and the pawn shops or gold buyers buy the gold by the pennyweight.... got a pennyweight scale? me either.

conversion - knowledge is power.
eBay Guides - LEARN HOW TO CONVERT GOLD Pennyweights to Grams back

 

[travelover]

.... got a pennyweight scale? me either........

These are really nice scales for the money.

1000 Gram Digital Scale