Question:
I received a an estimate from my insurance and it gave me the costs from my
dentist for a crown and "prefab post and core." I was just wondering what the
charges for each procedure range from for each of them. The esimate I got for
the porcelain/metal crown was $920 and for the prefab post and core was $350.
My insurance is only paying 50% so I want to see how the prices compare to
others
Answer:
Check around- a lot of times dentists overcharge for crowns when they KNOW
that insurance will pay for a portion!! I had a crown put on one of my
teeth- the dentist charged me $500 at the time for the crown because he had
made me a deal w/ the root canal ( I am a cash customer). I overheard him
telling a patient that their charge for the crown was $600 PLUS what the
insurance was paying the dentist!! Call around and ask other dentists AND
call your dentist anonymously and ask him what a crown for that tooth would
cost being a non insurance customer. The cost you said sounds high anyway!!
My brothers dentist who does good work but is expensive charges $700 for a
crown. Post and cores usually range in the $150-$200 area. This is in PA and
is a top rate dentist!!
Also make sure that when you get the crown, make sure the dentist does a
color match up and when he puts on the crown, he is not drilling it to death
to make the crown fit!! This is a sign of a poorly made crown and it will
look like crap and feel rough!! Do not be afraid to speak up- you are paying
a lot of money for this tooth and it should look real!!
I didn't answer this one because I've had several crowns, but as yet, only
the one root canal (knock wood).
It's somewhat a different story when you're buying crowns alone. When we
didn't have insurance, I called around. It's exactly as you said- the
dentists charge what people will pay, and if you call around sometimes you
can find a deal.
Calling around, in the San Diego area, prices were averaging 800 bucks.
Finally, I found a young, fragile little Asian doctor who could get me one
for $400. This turned out to be the best deal in town, and the only one I
could afford at the time.
Everything turned out ok... except that his office also had a lot of welfare
clientele. It sort of ticked me off that I sweat blood to buy a service
that the person sitting next to me got free.
Welfare clientele? How do you know that they aren't just simple, uneducated
people with no money, just like yourself?
Why do see it relevent to point out that the dentist was Asian?
Also, you sweat blood for minimum wage? Don't blame the system just because
you are too stupid and untalented to obtain decent employment. I have
nothing against simpletons, you understand; I just don't like it when they
forget their place, like you do all so often on these newsgroup forums.
Still.... one has to weigh the advantages of both. Yes, I did save about
$400 on my cost of treatment. Yes, I was happy with the crown. It's a bit
large, but mostly fits, and has not chipped. No, it's not the best crown in
my mouth, but it's not the worst.
I also have two Mexican crowns. They ran $150. each. They're heavy, coarse,
and only look vaguely like teeth at all. As they're molars, this is
acceptable. The ceramic chipped entirely off one within a year. The other
still has ceramic coating, but still doesn't look much like a tooth.
My husband later asked me not to return to Mexico for dental work due to the
AIDS situation in Tijuana. I agreed. If sanitation was any better, I'd get
another inexpensive crown there.
