Price for Treatment

croucher

I got a crown about ten years ago on my front tooth. In May the crown ot loose and I went to my Dublin dentist to get it looked at (he was a different guy to the man who put the crown in, he passed away unfortunately). My new dentist believed that the root has a small fracture. Anyway he put the crown back in, but it came loose again last week so I went back to him.

He recommended that I go see a different dentist that specialises in root canal treatment, he thinks that I made need to get the root canal re-done as the original root canal is not sealed properly. He also believes that I have very little root left to work with, but a new crown may be possible, with a longer pin. He is not providing a gaurantee that all of this would work.

He priced the root canal at approx €700 and the crown at around €1100. Thought this was quite steep, so I have booked to see a dentist recommended to me in Newry.

Does anyone know if the Irish prices are too high, and how much would this cost in the North? Also, how many visits would it take to get this work done?

Finally, if root canal and a new crown is not an option, what happens then? How do I get a front tooth that won'k keep getting loose?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks

Big_G

Questions about price vastly outnumber questions about dentistry on this forum. So I suggest you do a search about that. However, my two cents (not that anybody cares because people keep asking the same questions) is that this seems a reasonable quote for a considerably comprimised tooth.

Consider a possible breakdown after the root canal redo (if that is indeed possible, if there is a root fracture, this may not be possible), a new post preparation, impression and temporary crown would take between 1hr-1.5hrs depending on difficulty. Then lab fee for the cast post (or post and core could be done directly, add 30 mins to initial time estimate), seating visit 30 mins - 1hr for seat, adjust and impress. Lab fee for crown. Seat visit for crown 15mins- 30 mins. Total time 1.5hrs-3hrs (leaning more towards the heavy estimate), 2 lab fees and materials. Costly.

An alternative is to have root removed and go for denture, resin bonded bridge, conventional fixed or cantilevered bridge, or implant.

Good luck.

croucher

thanks for the response Big_G, appreciate it....

regarding denture, resin bonded bridge, conventional fixed or cantilevered bridge, or implant, I presume these are big jobs, will any of these require work on my other teeth that I have, got the impression from my dentist that I would have to have work done on other teeth to accomadate a bridge??

Also, I presume the pain factor increases with these options!!!!

Big_G

croucher wrote:

thanks for the response Big_G, appreciate it....

regarding denture, resin bonded bridge, conventional fixed or cantilevered bridge, or implant, I presume these are big jobs, will any of these require work on my other teeth that I have, got the impression from my dentist that I would have to have work done on other teeth to accomadate a bridge??

Also, I presume the pain factor increases with these options!!!!

Now you're thinking properly, decide what you want, and then decide what you can afford. Not the other way around. This is your body that we are talking about, nothing could be a better investment, IMO.

For the purposes of comparison, all procedures should be theoretically painless, but each has a varying amount of time spent in the chair and/or time healing, with some associated with mild postoperative discomfort (implant being one of those). All require a very high standard of oral hygiene.

Denture - positives: can be very good looking, if handled by an experienced and competent dentist and lab technician. Conservative of teeth beside the gap. Negatives: removable, and can in some cases be damaging to the tissues around the teeth.

Resin bonded bridge - positives: not removable, very good looking, conservative to teeth (compared to conventional bridges). Negatives: can be difficult to make look right, especially if some bone loss has been experienced. Only a dentist who is well versed in bonding techniques can make this work. These bridges generally have a shorter lifespan than conventional bridges. A small amount of tooth structure removal is generally needed. More expensive than a denture.

Conventional bridge - positives: not removable, very good looking (generally), last longer than resin bonded bridges. Negatives: destructive to adjacent teeth (teeth require 'paring down' in order to fit the bridge over them), can be difficult to make look right, more expensive than resin bonded bridge or denture.

Implant - positives - once it goes in, it stays in. Longest lasting. If placed correctly, does not damage other teeth. The closest thing in dentistry to a natural tooth. Negatives: expensive, requires a very competent dentist/specialist with extra training, can be difficult to make the gum around it look right, may require bone grafting.

Good luck.