Crown- possibly abroad

coldpaw

Hello,

A few years ago my front tooth was broken. Dentist (as far as i understand the details) did root canal and placed a filling on the bottom half, with top still in place

This is wearing away now, and the fact that I am earning money i was thinking about getting a new tooth (its called a crown i think). I was at dentist this week and he quoted me €1150 for a porcelain crown, which i would go for since its a front tooth.

This seems crazy expensive to me, is this the standard price? I am not entitled to tax relief as do not have enough tax credits.Would anyone suggest going abroad, would I get it much cheaper.

I am going inter railing anyway this month so is Budapest recommended or is it dodgy to go there? and the north?

Any help much appreciateed don't want to pay through the nose but don't want to make a bollix of it either

gccorcaigh

I suggest you view the thread: "dentist disaster in Budapest". That should give you your answer about going abroad...

As for the cost, phone around, and get a few quotes, then compare them and see if you think your dentist quoted you a reasonable price. Seems a bit expensive for a crown, I would've thought 900 would be the average price. Are you 100% sure that quote is just for a standard porcelain crown?

georgieporgy

I think 1150 is ok. I charge 1050 for a front tooth. but i use an american lab and the $ value is favourable for me . Guys using good local labs may have slightly higher costs. plus issues like location.... downtown big city or suburban roscommon may affect overheads a bit. I know guys that charge 2000euro. they do great work. i think mine is about 95% as good. If your guy is asking 1150 i think it means he is a step above the regular 800 fits all type. The $ value may seem a lot and the visible diff on the crown may be subtle but it's a bit like comparing a Rolls Royce with a Mercedes. You do want it to last for the rest of your life however.

you are entitled to tax relief if you pay tax

convert

That quotation isn't too bad. I badly damaged my front teeth when I was a child and eventually got crowns done on my two top front teeth. It cost €1,500. I then broke a crown within a month of getting my nice new crowns and was charged almost €1,000 to do the one tooth!!! (this was about 6 years ago!)

I since had to get a root canal and root filling on one of my front bottom teeth and went up to the North to get treatment. The root canal, treatment for an abscess and the crown cost £200 sterling.

You could always try going up north rather than abroad.

coldpaw

thanks to everyone who responded.

I am not entitled to tax relief as I do not have enough stamps- I have been only working full time since end of 2006.

Well at least I know the dentist is not overcharging, although it does seem very expensive to be charging, I understand and agree that it costs because it is meant to last the rest of your life but even still €1150 seems incredibly expensive.

Will prob stay away from budapest just to be safe and will see the price up north. Thanks for the answers

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Your Tax relief is different from PRSI dental insurance. If you pay tax you are entitled to tax relief, nothing to do with stamps.

Rule of thumb - cheap crown = cheap lab work = crap crown.

georgieporgy

let me add ..... you will not get a root canal and a crown for 200 sterling 'upnorth'.
Convert seems well intentioned but I sense he has a couple things inaccuratly stated in his post. Probably confusing fillings with crowns/caps? and probably went to an NHS practice. His description of his earlier treatmet doesn't make sense. No offense intended Convert. I just need more info.

coldpaw

georgieporgy- I have had the root canal done already so it will just be the crown.

Is a crown a difficult procedure or can it be done in one sitting. I have been reading up here about complex procedures and I was wondering on the scale how complex is it. It is a front tooth.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

A crown will take at least two visits because it has to be made by a laboratory after the first visit and fitted the second. It may take longer depending on your particular circumstances, the experiance of the clinician (specialists often take more time), the state of the tooth, and how good you want it to look.

Good crowns take time and time = money so good crowns are expensive.
Bad crowns are fast, time is money so bad crowns tend to be cheap.