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Need help understanding dental bill?

I went to the dentist for the first time in about 4 or 5 years and got a whole lot of bad news (as expected for so long). 1) Very back molar, bottom, my right. This one has a big cavity. The x-ray did not show it hitting the root, but close. They said they might be able to do just a filling, but they want to do a root canal anyways because the decay migth go further than shown on the x-ray. Is that resonable? Or should I try for just a filling and hope its okay? With the root canal they would also have to do a crown. 2) Obviously, I need my teeth cleaned. 3) In addition to that bad cavity I have 4 other ones plus one old one that is broken and needs fixed. These ones are not too bad. All of them are on back teeth and are located inbetween teeth (they only could see them on x-ray not visualy). In total they want $2808 and that's after insurance. My insurance pays 100% of the cleaning without a deductable so that does not need to be considered at all. Fillings are covered at 75%, root canal is 75%, crown is 0%. Deductable is $50 and max payout is $500. Does $2808 sound resonable?!? From what I can find online a root canal + crown should be $2000 without any insurance at all and fillings would be $200 each again without any insurance at all. I thought insurance is supose to get you decreased rates, plus they'll pay up to $500? I live in Massachusetts by the way, so expensive area. My insurance company is MetLife. Since it is the end of the year I can up my dental insurance for next year to cover 80% of fillings, 80% of root canal, and 60% of crowns. Same $50 deductable and a $1500 max payout. Can someone help me figure out how much it would be with the better coverage? The $2808 is my out of pocket cost, not the bill before insurance benefits. I'm in no pain at all, that tooth is sensitive to hot/cold and also when i floss, but just sitting here doing nothing I don't feel anything at all. They did a test with some kind of cooling chemical on a cotton swab. They put it on a healthy tooth and I felt the cooldness for a couple seconds. On the bad tooth I felt it for several seconds. The other tooth isn't cracked, the filling is, so it just needs the filling repaired.

Public Comments

1. That sounds about right. I had 4 teeth pulled and total cost was about 1,400. Insurance paid about 1,000 of it and I paid about $400 out of pocket. I would say just off the top of my head that it will probably be closer to 1,500 if you wait. No insurance companies don't get you a better price.
2. If you can wait till your insurance has the enrollment period next year then wait. Having 60% of root canal coverage is better than none at all. That's the better deal. My concern is that you don't mention how much pain you're in and whether or not you can wait to have some or all of this done. The average cost of a root canal is between $1,200 and $2,000. Once the root canal is done a crown will need to be placed on your tooth. Gold is the cheapest material but a porcelain crown is usually preferred. A crown will cost about $2,000. You said you have a broken tooth. That may need a crown. Twenty years ago I paid $700 for a root canal and just recently had a crown placed on it for $2,300. As for your bottom right molar with the big cavity, I would have them drill into it and take a look. That's really the only way they can know for sure, but ask them because I'm not a dentist. I just went through a very similar experience though and while my tooth really doesn't hurt, it took 6 shots to numb it enough to where they could drill in. They said there was a lot of decay in it and the tooth may or may not need a root canal at some point. They cleaned out the tooth as best they could and filled it. It's up to you. You may even want a second opinion on it. Get 1 bite wing x-ray done of that tooth and an exam and get another opinion. Tip: While it's not much, most dentists will offer a 5 to 10% discount if you pay in cash at the time of your visit. Be sure to ask them. Every little bit helps.
3. !. Usually the decay goes deeper than is seen on the x-ray. Of course it would be the least expensive way if a root canal and a crown is not needed.. In the Midwest a molar root canal is around $1200 and a crown around $1000. You could try for the filling and see what happens. You can always do the root canal and crown if it does not work. 2. Cleanings are around $90. 3. 5 fillings that extend between the teeth would roughly be around $750 for silver and $1500 for white bonded composite fillings. These are fees before insurance payments. And of course you live in a higher fee area. I would try to split up the work and do the maximum you can for insurance benefits in 2009 and do the remainder in 2010. Good luck to you.
4. I've worked in Kansas, Georgia and Kentucky and crowns run around 800-1000. Gold crowns are not the cheapest, they are the most expensive. A silver crown (non-precious metal) is the cheapest, but even then you are only saving about 100 bucks in my past experience so I would pay the extra bucks for the porcelain crown if you are worried about looks. and also, I would'nt wait a year to get the big filling taken care of....the longer you wait the bigger these fillings are gonna get, would you rather have 5 fillings and 1 root canal, or even more root cancals and crowns because the fillings dignosed are now so big they can't be fixed without the root canal...just a thought, but i know its hard because it's alot of money. also another thing to keep in mind, depending on how your insurance works, they have things called "pre-existing conditions". It's when you have already been diagnosed prior to your insurance policy going into effect so they won't cover that treatment, you need to make sure before you upgrade your insurance plan that it won't be a problem. I don't foresee it being a big deal since you are staying with the same insurance company but some of those insurance companies are stifflers!! So read all the fine print!
5. Well get the teeth cleaned first, then have another Xray taken some of that stuff might be just tartar build up not decay, then get a new reading from the dentist. If they can fill it have them fill it for now remember if they do some work this year.. then you can get more work done next year and save a few more dollars.