Dental implants.

[Bear Paw Jack]

In Alaska, anything dental or medical you can be sure the price meets new standards for high prices. I have excellent medical insurance, but dental insurance, not so much. I went to a dentist, she was new, but told me I needed to have 5-6 new crowns or implants. Here they are about $5 to $6,000 each. There's a town over the border from Yuma, Az. They are less than half that price. Lots of snow birds go there. I'm not sure how many dental offices there are, but plenty.
Seems like the older I get, the more dental problems I seem to have.
Anyone else dealing with that?
I had another tooth break the other day. Driving me nuts.
I use a water pik and brush,
I have a friend that went to Turkey and got a complete new set of teeth screwed in, for $12,000 which included air fare, and 9 days of hotel. Apparently there’s another company, that does the same thing. Has anyone tried that? My impression is it’s quite expensive but would like to get feedback if anyone has experience I’d be interested.

 

[s4s4u]

When my parents started spending winters in Apache Junction, they never again had a dental procedure done in USA

 

[krw]

Crown in SW Ark $3k

 

[Johnnu2]

I've made two observations that have held:
1) When I was forced to move back to NY state, I was directed to a dentist who immediately threw up 'red flags'. He carefully and thoroughly examined me (with an assistant taking note). THEN, he scheduled me for a RETURN visit to discuss his findings at which visit he presented me with a comprehensive plan of action and the PRICE (which was about have of the down-payment that I had just made on my house). I asked for my X-rays and drove across the state border to my old dentist (I was fortunate to be that close) whereupon he drilled and filled a couple of cavities and told me watch out for charlatans. It took TWO more attempts to find an honest dentist who I've been with for the past 30 years. p.s. my guy does a 3-tooth permanent bridge for about $1500 per tooth. PERMANENT BRIDGE is the way to go no matter how much money you have to spend.
2) There is no question that, similar to home renovation contractors, price is almost 100% dependent upon where you live. Some day I'll tell the full story of a repair I needed to my slate roof. The first estimate from a local "slater" (that's what he called himself when he arrived at my house) was $4200 (this was in 1984). I connected with a roofer (thru a friend in the trades) who was about three towns north. He did the job for $500 (still a good amount in 1984).
J.

 

[eveled]

I think our teeth are proof we were never meant to live as long as we do now.

You get 2 full sets of teeth in your life. You use one for less than 10 years, the other set is meant to last the next 90?

My crowns are gold, worth the extra money in my opinion. My wife's white crowns have cracked in the past. Gold crowns never crack.

 

[Armybrat]

Last month I had one root canal and two “white” crowns done locally - total cost was $3,800.
I thought that was pretty durn high.

 

[Old1215]

In Alaska, anything dental or medical you can be sure the price meets new standards for high prices. I have excellent medical insurance, but dental insurance, not so much. I went to a dentist, she was new, but told me I needed to have 5-6 new crowns or implants. Here they are about $5 to $6,000 each. There's a town over the border from Yuma, Az. They are less than half that price. Lots of snow birds go there. I'm not sure how many dental offices there are, but plenty.
Seems like the older I get, the more dental problems I seem to have.
Anyone else dealing with that?
I had another tooth break the other day. Driving me nuts.
I use a water pik and brush,
I have a friend that went to Turkey and got a complete new set of teeth screwed in, for $12,000 which included air fare, and 9 days of hotel. Apparently there’s another company, that does the same thing. Has anyone tried that? My impression is it’s quite expensive but would like to get feedback if anyone has experience I’d be interested.

A friend of mine from Texas goes to Mexico for ALL his dental work. He lives in Ky now but still can fly there, stay in motel and come out cheaper than paying anywhere in US.

 

[redhawker]

Just had a crown replaced in N/E TN. On the bill, it said (not exact figures, but this is close) $1,300. Then there were "adjustments" that brought it down to about $1,000, and then insurance picked up the rest, except for $375, which I paid. Seems to me, when I lived in Southern Commiefornia, I remember a crown being about $2,500, and my part, after insurance, was around $1,000. I guess different parts of the country have different rates.

 

[Kevin]

I have one implant. They are much different from a crown. Personally I would not go to Mexico for any dental procedure. Our dentist in Dallas is very good but probably more expensive than most. Either that or we have bad dental insurance. And I know we have bad dental insurance. A small cavity is $800 after insurance.

The implant was about 10 years ago and my part was $5,000. It broke after about 3 years and the replacement was around $3,000. They gave me a discount. I know they did good work the first time, and I didn’t blame them.

Turkey? Maybe. They are more advanced than Mexico. I’ve been to Istanbul. It’s nice.

 

[Mobuck]

I discussed an implant but gave up the idea when they started talking about bone grafts and 2-3 years of pharting around for one tooth.

 

[Johnnu2]

I self-fund my dental "insurance"; I 'put aside' $110 per month and keep it growing until I need a procedure. I'm guessing that one serious trip to an oral surgeon should wipe me out; but, then again, at 81.... who knows, I'll probably be eating soup and Jello as a regular diet in another few years anyway. .

J.

 

[vito]

Dental care, like veterinary care seems to have gone up in price enormously. I just had a crown done and the bill was $1,800. And unfortunately, this morning I woke up to find a different crown apparently is gone. I have no idea what happened, and I truly hope that I did not inadvertently swallow it, but it is nowhere to be found and I guess I can expect another bill for $1,800. A few years back I lost a whole tooth for the first time and had to get an implant. That was $4,500 which seemed outrageous to me, but it seems that maybe it was bargain compared to what other dentists are charging.

 

[jav]

I just got a estimate for implants one tooth it’s kinda in the back doesn’t really show when I smile I still debating on getting it or not anyway the price was since I already got pulled last year the full price one tooth 2300.

 

[DGW1949]

I'm 76 years old. In all that time, I've only had four teeth pulled, which means that I average loosing a tooth once every 18-19 years...What that tells me is that if a get another bad tooth somewhere in the future, I dern-sure ain't worrying over no crown. I'll just get it pulled, same as I did the others...because, any way I slice it or dice it, I'll still have plenty of teeth left to eat with right up until I die...Oh, and BTW, the first one I had pulled was $25 and the last one cost $200...so figuring-in inflation, having a tooth pulled is cheaper than ever these days. In addition to that aspect, having a tooth pulled is a permanent fix. Many crowns ain't, because many of them will fail sooner or later and need to be repaired......just sayin'.

DGW

 

[xtratoy]

Dental care, like veterinary care seems to have gone up in price enormously. I just had a crown done and the bill was $1,800. And unfortunately, this morning I woke up to find a different crown apparently is gone. I have no idea what happened, and I truly hope that I did not inadvertently swallow it, but it is nowhere to be found and I guess I can expect another bill for $1,800. A few years back I lost a whole tooth for the first time and had to get an implant. That was $4,500 which seemed outrageous to me, but it seems that maybe it was bargain compared to what other dentists are charging.

If it was a gold crown it would be worth investigating where it may have gone and where it ended up. Dental crowns are averaging $200 @ current gold prices.

 

[redhawker]

Funny thing. I've got three missing teeth at various locations in my mouth (all are far back and not visible when I smile or during normal conversation). Almost every dentist I've seen has "recommended" that I get a bridge or an implant for each one, or "your teeth will start to move". So far, over the course of at least 20 years, none of my teeth have "moved". I'm suspecting the "moving teeth" is a marketing ploy. I figure if you can't see them, why spend all the money to replace them?

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Even if one has dental insurance, it doesn't really cover anything but maintenance, and I had the best around. Had a procedure done that cost around $2400. My "best" "Prime" version here in NJ paid a grand total of $550 of that. It's basically cleanings, cavities/fillings, and crap like that. Implants, dentures, root canals, extractions, etc. are never fully covered- or even mostly covered.

 

[Johnnu2]

I just got a estimate for implants one tooth it’s kinda in the back doesn’t really show when I smile I still debating on getting it or not anyway the price was since I already got pulled last year the full price one tooth 2300.

Don't waste your time.... these bas!@#rds are just in it for the money, certainly not your health. I have at least one tooth missing "in the back" on each side (upper) and nothing has "moved" in well over 30 years. I even had a permanent bridge mounted just in front of one missing tooth and all is well after 15+/- years.
Save your money for cheeseburgers for life....Spend wisely.
J.

 

[txramfan]

I just made an appointment for a root canal and replacement ( if needed ) of the existing crown.
Root Canal is $1050 basically the same price I paid 16 years ago.
Crown replacement is $899, that is less than from 15 years ago when we had good dental insurance.

 

[wproct]

I'm 80 years old and have a number of crowns, most were paid by dental insurance that my place of work had for me. Before I retired I had to have a tooth pulled as it couldn't be crowned. It was a molar topside that can't be seen when I smile, it would have been covered by my insurance for either a bridge or implant but I didn't want to fool with it, foolish of me. Anyway the dentist told me other teeth may shift if I left in blank but my teeth have always been crowded and overlapped anyway and I felt if they spread out and shifted that would probably be a good thing.

 

[wheelgun1958]

When I lived in the burbs I had a dentist swear up and down I needed skin grafts on my gums because they're receding. I spoke with my current dentist and the response was there's nothing wrong with my gums and my teeth aren't going anywhere. The roots are deep. If you find a good dentist, stick with him/her. There are too many shysters (or quacks).

 

[Deuzekko]

I was in the same boat a couple years ago and ended up spreading out the work after getting a second opinion, which took a lot of pressure off. I also looked at options outside my area, and Colina Dental Clinic in Costa Rica was surprisingly affordable for crowns compared to local prices. I ended up doing part of my work there and part at home, and the mix made the whole thing way easier on my wallet.

 

[jav]

I getting a crown on Monday 823.00 not bad I guess