Why is getting your teeth fixed so expensive!?!?!
Question: I mean seriously.... if you dont have insurance and you have a simple cavity... ranges from $109 to $169!!... and god forbid you have to save up.. .and in that time the simple cavity hits the nerve. Now you need a root canal ($500 - $700), which needs a core and post ($50 - $200), and a crown ($150 - $400).... Thats $700 to $1300 for ONE TOOTH!!!
Why is it so expensive?! Is it the specialization dentist have to work in a small space (gynocologist dont charge this much!)? Is it the fact that the pain is so unbearable, the average dentist knows you'll trade your first born for that $1300 to make the pain go away?? (i dont have kids, dont worry!) What is the excuse?! I'm dying here. a person shouldnt have to take out a second morgage for a toothache.
Answers: I mean seriously.... if you dont have insurance and you have a simple cavity... ranges from $109 to $169!!... and god forbid you have to save up.. .and in that time the simple cavity hits the nerve. Now you need a root canal ($500 - $700), which needs a core and post ($50 - $200), and a crown ($150 - $400).... Thats $700 to $1300 for ONE TOOTH!!!
Why is it so expensive?! Is it the specialization dentist have to work in a small space (gynocologist dont charge this much!)? Is it the fact that the pain is so unbearable, the average dentist knows you'll trade your first born for that $1300 to make the pain go away?? (i dont have kids, dont worry!) What is the excuse?! I'm dying here. a person shouldnt have to take out a second morgage for a toothache.
I know.. I'm uninsured as well and work for a dentist.
We get these questions all the time and I wonder as well!
Unfortunately the cost of dental supplies/materials is sky high, the cost of dental school is also very higher. Dentists are also becoming less and less in U.S.! You also have to take into consideration rent, utilities and the expense of your staff.
Its not just dentists, but all doctors..and unfortunately this is why people are leaving the country to get work done.
They're a doctor of teeth. If I was a dentist, I'd be charging that much.
Mine charges in the 250-range for most of the cavities I've had filled, but after insurance i pay... roughly 1/3rd... but he does a great job.
Prevention is cheaper. I brush, waterpik, then mouthwash.
Dental care has always been a sky high expense, If you are in need you could receive dental services Thur a college in your area. Don't worry it is well supervised and they do great work, For free or at a great discount. Make a few calls, Good luck.
My answer for that is that we live in a very capitalistic society, where people have to pay for all their needs, regardless of how well -situated they are in terms of jobs or finances.
I mean, you can work really hard to get education, better job, etc, but if you have cavity or whatever on the way, what to do? It's tough.
I know this because MY solution to working hard, getting educated and having a better living than my parents was to become a dentist.
This took me 8 years and cost me over $130,000 even tho' i got scholarships and so forth in college. So that's ok, I got loans, but they take THIRTY years to pay back, and by the time I'm done paying, I'll have paid way more than twice the original loan amount.
I have a mortgage on my house and that is six figures, of course, and costs a couple grand a month. I have a term note (like a mortgage) on my practice that I bought, and that cost nearly half a MILLION dollars (and it's a smallish practice; four chairs) so for that I pay the bank like six grand a month.
I have seven employees and they are good, hard-working people. They deserve to be paid what they're worth - not only that, but if i didn' t pay top dollar, they'd go work for another dentist! SOOOO, my payroll is like 20,000 per month.
Patients come in and say, "oh, all this work I got over the years cost $20,000...I'll bet that's buying you a BMW, huh?" Um, no, my '02 Camry actually cost more than 20 Gs, and i'm still driving it. You've just covered a month of payroll...
Are there greedy dentists who overcharge and tell you you need services you really don't? Yes, of course, same as mechanics, contractors and any other service provider. We shoudl have a higher standard of ethics, but it gets into gray areas.
Now, granted, I don't know any dentists that are going hungry or worrying about paying their bills (tho' in my early days there have been some tight months!). Most of my colleagues have vacation homes and nice cars and all that junk.
But look at it this way: We spend our early 20s studying our butts off so we can get into dental schools...everyone else is out partying and stuff. I never once went on a spring break trip czu A - no money and B - needed to study. Then we spend our mid to late 20s in dental school, hardly getting enough sleep and such, while others are out making money at new jobs and so forth. THEN we spend 5 years or so trying to get a practice off the ground, or if you'r elike me, trying to renovate an older practice. So by the time you're in your 40s, you think, "damn, i deserve to enjoy myself FINALLY...."
I hope that answers your question! Again, I think that some things (at least basic dental care) should be covered by single payer health care like they do in much of Europe, but then we'd all pay higher taxes, so there's the trade-off.
Also, if you can find anywhere in the US where a crown is "only " $400, you are indeed fortunate! In Ohio, where I went to school, it's probably 800 or so and in New England, where i work, most crowns are at LEAST $1000....
yo'ull get better fees if you get yoru work done at a dental school - the students are really SLOW but the work is top-notch, cuz they've got instructors looking over their shoulder, so you get great care. My dad had a student do a crown, at that was 30-some years ago - that crown is still in his mouth and it's older than me!
good luck; email if you have any more questions!
lol dr nate was on fire witht that message. Im a dentist and fortunately im canadian and our studies cost around 50 k. In canada prices are fixed by the dental association so u cant really overprice. true its expensive but like nate said, lots of equipment cost.