Cost To Replace A Crown

byronbay2

Over the past 2 weeks I have had 2 dental appointments and spent a total of 40 minutes in the company of my dentist. During this time, he replaced a crown on one of my front teeth, which I originally broke when I was 12 years old. He did an excellent job and has furnished me with a new porcelain crown that matches perfectly with my other teeth.

My question is: what kind of value did I get for my money? It cost €900 and, as I said, only took him 40 mins of work. What were his costs, to justify such an eye-watering bill? Is the cement laced with Titanium? Does the crown cost him €500 to buy? I haven't been this shocked with a bill since I engaged a solicitor to sort out a minor probate issue!

bilbot79

byronbay2 wrote: »

Over the past 2 weeks I have had 2 dental appointments and spent a total of 40 minutes in the company of my dentist. During this time, he replaced a crown on one of my front teeth, which I originally broke when I was 12 years old. He did an excellent job and has furnished me with a new porcelain crown that matches perfectly with my other teeth.

My question is: what kind of value did I get for my money? It cost €900 and, as I said, only took him 40 mins of work. What were his costs, to justify such an eye-watering bill? Is the cement laced with Titanium? Does the crown cost him €500 to buy? I haven't been this shocked with a bill since I engaged a solicitor to sort out a minor probate issue!

I'm not sure the costs but I need a full dental implant and it's gonna run me 2k.

There's more to this business than for normal goods and services. Messing around with human anatomy is hugely risky and requires a great deal of skill, training, prevision and God knows what costs in the supply chain. The trick here is to have dental insurance

byronbay2

bilbot79 wrote: »

I'm not sure the costs but I need a full dental implant and it's gonna run me 2k.

There's more to this business than for normal goods and services. Messing around with human anatomy is hugely risky and requires a great deal of skill, training, prevision and God knows what costs in the supply chain. The trick here is to have dental insurance

I had no need for dental treatment (except checkup/scaling/cleaning) between 1986 and 2014. Imagine how I would have felt paying dental insurance for all those years!!

Not trying to be nasty or anything but I NEVER buy insurance unless I am legally obliged. It's such a reflection on how safe/careful society has become that people prefer to line the pockets of big insurance companies rather than risk dropping their phone/laptop or their pet getting sick or having a sore/broken tooth.

byronbay2

byronbay2 wrote: »

I had no need for dental treatment (except checkup/scaling/cleaning) between 1986 and 2014. Imagine how I would have felt paying dental insurance for all those years!!

Not trying to be nasty or anything but I NEVER buy insurance unless I am legally obliged. It's such a reflection on how safe/careful society has become that people prefer to line the pockets of big insurance companies rather than risk dropping their phone/laptop or their pet getting sick or having a sore/broken tooth.

You realise the benefit of insurance when you unexpectedly need it, not when you don’t.

Op, the value you got would seem obvious to most, a crown which perfectly matches your natural teeth. No doubt you might have paid less elsewhere for an inferior one. Dentists have set prices for crowns, you can check your Dentists website or displayed price list. There are significant costs involved in crowns, the two biggest of which are of course the laboratory fee (which can be €500, and over if it’s a really good lab, which it sounds like it was) and the value the Dentist puts on their labour/skill. There are other costs, including that cement you mention, which is indeed expensive, particularly if it’s a custom kit with different shades which can be used to lighten/darken ceramics. There is also the silicone impression material, temporary crown, clinical costs etc etc.

There is no doubt that posters will tell you they paid less, but you got an absolutely perfect ceramic replica of the surrounding teeth, that involves skill and a top lab.

Snotty

byronbay2 wrote: »

Not trying to be nasty or anything but I NEVER buy insurance unless I am legally obliged. It's such a reflection on how safe/careful society has become that people prefer to line the pockets of big insurance companies rather than risk dropping their phone/laptop or their pet getting sick or having a sore/broken tooth.

Pretty much the same argument for helmets or seat belts, essentially useless and pointless until they aren't.

Fitz II

byronbay2 wrote: »

Over the past 2 weeks I have had 2 dental appointments and spent a total of 40 minutes in the company of my dentist. During this time, he replaced a crown on one of my front teeth, which I originally broke when I was 12 years old. He did an excellent job and has furnished me with a new porcelain crown that matches perfectly with my other teeth.

My question is: what kind of value did I get for my money? It cost €900 and, as I said, only took him 40 mins of work. What were his costs, to justify such an eye-watering bill? Is the cement laced with Titanium? Does the crown cost him €500 to buy? I haven't been this shocked with a bill since I engaged a solicitor to sort out a minor probate issue!

You are happy with the crown so what the problem? Do you want him to take longer...he should charge more for doing a good job that fast. Yes the lab bill on a crown is large along with the dentists costs of staff, materials, rent, light heat etc. 900 euro is very reasonable....you will find plenty of places do cheap crappy crowns around the place they are the expensive ones.

Dianthus

I can be three times slower (2hours total), & sometimes have to return the crown back to the lab for incorrect fit or shade (necessitating a 3rd or even 4th visit, which frustrates all parties involved).
You said yourself that you've achieved an excellent result. Sometimes the best make it look effortless, easy. Maybe this guy is the Usain Bolt of dentistry

byronbay2

OP here, thanks for the replies. Yeah, very happy with the results and have been with this dentist for a long time. Not looking to rant at dentists at all, just wondering why this procedure, with so little “hands-on” time involved, was so expensive.

Car99

byronbay2 wrote: »

OP here, thanks for the replies. Yeah, very happy with the results and have been with this dentist for a long time. Not looking to rant at dentists at all, just wondering why this procedure, with so little “hands-on” time involved, was so expensive.

But it was a rant at dentist without doing a little bit of research to find out what's involved and average costs. And you got an above average result by your own account.

Dianthus

You will only truly understand the value of what you paid for, when in the future you attend a dentist who can't work to the same standards or speed as this one has. (Also factor in a 2 week turnaround in the middle of a Level5 pandemic - by comparison most actual life-saving hospital medical treatments are severely curtailed)
Or in 10/15/20 years time, when you see how long the crown lasts

byronbay2

Car99 wrote: »

But it was a rant at dentist without doing a little bit of research to find out what's involved and average costs. And you got an above average result by your own account.

I have just re-read my original post and don’t believe it could be called a rant by any stretch of the imagination. I merely came on to the Dental forum to see if someone with dental expertise could explain to me why the procedure was so expensive.

byronbay2

byronbay2 wrote: »

I have just re-read my original post and don’t believe it could be called a rant by any stretch of the imagination

?

byronbay2 wrote: »

only took him 40 mins of work. What were his costs, to justify such an eye-watering bill? Is the cement laced with Titanium? Does the crown cost him €500 to buy? I haven't been this shocked with a bill since I engaged a solicitor to sort out a minor probate issue!

Car99

byronbay2 wrote: »

I have just re-read my original post and don’t believe it could be called a rant by any stretch of the imagination. I merely came on to the Dental forum to see if someone with dental expertise could explain to me why the procedure was so expensive.

Did you provide in your OP any reasonable argument or logic as to how you arrived at the questions with regard to your experience at your chosen dental practice where you have been a customer for many years with excellent results? No. Then I would consider you're opening post a rant IMO.

ripoffrepublic

byronbay2 wrote: »

I have just re-read my original post and don’t believe it could be called a rant by any stretch of the imagination. I merely came on to the Dental forum to see if someone with dental expertise could explain to me why the procedure was so expensive.

No it is not a rant. It is a fair enough question, to be fair. In my opinion, cosmetic dental work, is a total ripoff. A crown to be produced cost a fraction of what you eventually paid. I paid 700 euro for a post and crown back in 2004. In my opinion, crowns, implant,etc... should be cheap enough for the ordinary person to be able to afford, instead of having to get them awful dentures, as the only affordable opinion.

ripoffrepublic

ripoffrepublic wrote: »

No it is not a rant. It is a fair enough question, to be fair. In my opinion, cosmetic dental work, is a total ripoff. A crown to be produced cost a fraction of what you eventually paid. I paid 700 euro for a post and crown back in 2004. In my opinion, crowns, implant,etc... should be cheap enough for the ordinary person to be able to afford, instead of having to get them awful dentures, as the only affordable opinion.

No one forces you to have cosmetic treatments, it’s a personal choice. Dentures are a practical and cost effective way of replacing a missing tooth, but by no means the best. If you want a better replacement which takes a lot more clinical time, has higher component and laboratory costs, and requires more expertise, it is going to cost more.

If your post crown is still there 17 years later, that was a good investment.