Endodentist fee is outrageous!

[Chuck Wintle]

My dentist noticed on the x-ray a small abscess in the root of a tooth...a trip after to the endodentist confirmed that there is indeed an abscess. Already the tooth has had a root canal and a crown. he says he will drill thru the crown and fix the abscess for the price of $1400!! or I can have the tooth pulled..not an option since the tooth is very solid. These people have a license to print money. :mad:

[Mike Lassiter]

Many years ago my youngest child was still with all her baby teeth. Wife took her to the dentist for checkup. Comes home saying we had to have about $900 in dental work done on her teeth (no insurance) or her permanent teeth would likely come in crooked and she would have to have braces to correct it. Great, but ok: they agreed to work a payment plan out with us. She ended up still having to have braces when she because a teenager.

And just think about the people that have gold put over there teeth or a diamond or other such stuff done to their front teeth.

[David Weaver]

At the bottom of my development, there is a dentist's office, pediatrician and an endodontist's office. it's very easy to spot the endodontist based on the car he drives. Always whatever the most expensive mercedes coupe is, and never more than a year or two old.

[glenn bradley]

Friend's mom had a partial glued. No structural work, the pieces fit perfectly and it took about 10 minutes . . . $785.00. A drug store repair kit is about $6 but, she did not know that till after.

[eugene thomas]

And I thought I got robbed for $450 for 15 minutes of work to smooth out 4 teeth.

[Brian Elfert]

I know a dentist and he happened to mention his hourly pay rate once. Let's just say it would take a minimum wage worker longer than a 40 hour week to make what he gets for an hour. (This is what he gets paid, not what his employer charges.) I assume he works in a dental specialty and is not just a general dentist.

[David G Baker]

I have always wanted to work in a profession where I could nail the high priced "specialists" exorbitant fees for my labors. Some are well worth the cost but others charge immoral amounts of money and do shoddy work.

[Phil Thien]

I'm not trying to defend them or anything, but if you visit a doctor's/dentist's office, for every doctor walking around there are often 2-3 staff people. The overhead (rent) in nicer communities can make rent for even a small office $3000 to $5000 a month, then there is the equipment, insurance, yada yada yada.

Everything has gotten expensive.

But the truth is, every single dentist I've known has been a pretty awesome guy/gal.

[Chuck Wintle]

I'm not trying to defend them or anything, but if you visit a doctor's/dentist's office, for every doctor walking around there are often 2-3 staff people. The overhead (rent) in nicer communities can make rent for even a small office $3000 to $5000 a month, then there is the equipment, insurance, yada yada yada.

Everything has gotten expensive.

But the truth is, every single dentist I've known has been a pretty awesome guy/gal.

yes so true everything has gone up in price, endodentists included.

[Stephen Tashiro]

or I can have the tooth pulled..not an option since the tooth is very solid.

Solid or not, you can still have the tooth pulled. The endodontist will attempt to fix the problem, but the abcess might reoccur. I had such a tooth and after root canal, crown, and endodontist, it still had to be pulled. The regular dentist recommended a bridge to replace the pulled tooth.. The bridge was a nuisance. It and one tooth that supported it eventually had to be removed due to gum disease and bone erosion. I find life much simpler being minus two teeth - big ones.

I think the quote of $1,400 is cheap if it's for an apioectomy.


Think about what dental surgeons do vs regular surgeons. If you wanted a cyst removed fom your finger under local anethesia, these days you'd have it done at a surgical clinic instead of someone's office. Dental surgeons worked in a more cramped location on a part of the body that is a haven for germs. They provide the surgical clinic. It surpises me that dental surgery generally goes so well.

[Scott T Smith]

You also have to factor in costs of malpractice insurance. Not sure about the dental rates but for a pediatrician it can cost $100 per hour or more.

[William Payer]

I'm not trying to defend them or anything, but if you visit a doctor's/dentist's office, for every doctor walking around there are often 2-3 staff people. The overhead (rent) in nicer communities can make rent for even a small office $3000 to $5000 a month, then there is the equipment, insurance, yada yada yada.

Everything has gotten expensive.

But the truth is, every single dentist I've known has been a pretty awesome guy/gal.


Dentists usual function on a 55% (or so) margin of overhead expenses. So he (or the group her works in) is only grossing 45% of the bill you pay.
Also, schooling costs are substantial. In the Detroit area on Dental school's tuition ( not including book and instruments which can be substantial too) is $45k per year. The graduate programs (Endodontia is a 4 year post grad specialty) tuition is $75k per year!

[Clarence Martin]

Have the work done at a Dental School. They charge 1/3 to 1/2 the rate of a regular dentist

[Dave Sheldrake]

I have a private dentist (and dental surgeon) I had 13 teeth removed, a full set of facias in porcelain over Ti bases and screwed in 6 places. Got change from $900 (£600) and had 7 visits to get the work done. Guy Gibbs (my dentist) has clients who fly in from places like Norway for their dental work (not because he is cheap but because he is good) as he will do anything asked, you want a tooth gone, he will pull it, you want it filled, he will fill it etc etc.
For regular work he charges $90 an hour all in no matter what is required.

cheers

Dave