Question:
Cost of a root canal ?
Answer:
This may be a touchy subject for this group and I'll understand if no one
wants to answer this one.
How much is too much to pay for a root canal and an onlay repair?
I recently went to a dentist for some emergency work. Unfortunatly I had
no dentist chosen on my insurance plan and at the last minute it proved
to be quite a project to find one quickly (U.S. HealthCare, I'm convinced
now, is completely incompetent). Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet
(sorry) and immediately scheduled an appointment with an unresearched
dentist intending to pay cash.
He told me I needed a root canal and showed me a little about the onlay
technique for repairing the tooth. Thinking only to ease the pain I
agreed to have it done that day and proceeded to shell out $1500 on my
credit card for the procedure.
I wasn't shocked by this price and was pleasantly surprised in the end
since I had heard a few horror stories from other people about root
canals and the post-procedure pain of which I experienced none. Overall
I was happy with an experience that I had previously dreaded.
I still only 1/3 of the way through the process and am now committed to
finishing it so whatever responses I receive here won't affect that. I'm
just curious--did this guy see me walking through the door? I'm worried
that I may have played the part of the naive, suffering rube willing to
hand over anything to have the thorn removed.
I charge close to $900 and I am too cheap (for the quality that I try to
deliver). However, I practice in a small town in middle America. It
sounds like this guy knows what he is doing. For a top notch,
established dentist in a metro area, you probably got what you paid
for. Note that you received good service and had very little
discomfort. I have seen people spend $1500 on inferior (and
uncomfortable) work too many times. Some dentists charge high fees
because they are good at marketing.....some charge high fees because
they are better dentists.
Now, are you being told how to avoid needing another one in the future?
Are you listening?
Bottom line.....the fee is on the high side but not outrageous. The
procedure *seems* to be A-one.
Kind of like I have told several patients who thought my extraction fee
was a little high for the 1-2 minutes it actually took for me to remove
the tooth (they didn't count gentle, effective anesthesia).
"I could take longer and have the procedure be more uncomfortable.
Would you prefer that option?"
It sure will be an increase in fees from that date. Today the State
Insurance decide how much the individual dentist can charge and
it is the same all over the country no matter if it is a Public (i.e.
State) clinic or private.
Some examples:
root canal (three roots): $230
root canal (one root): $130
C&B: one crown: $295, bridge work the same fee per unit except
those units that are not on a root, then it is $125 (so a three unit
bridge is $715.
Dentures: $420 per jaw
COSTS:
An assistant: $17-$20 per hour
Everyone of your employees has a five week holiday with full pay,
if they get sick you must pay them 90% of their sallary during
one month and then 10% til they are back.
Would they get sick during their holiday - God forbid! - let's say
five days, you must give then an extra five day holiday with full
pay when they are back.
The materials, equipment and other costs are basically the
same as in the USA but we must pay more since we have a
25% sales tax (VAT) added on the basic cost. In the United
States I think it is somewhere around 10%
(do you know how much it is?).
If there is a profit (yes it do happens sometimes): the tax is 28% .
If the dentists take out a sallary of $30,000 (pretty normal) he
must pay 34% extra in pension and sick fees so it will be a
total cost for his business of $40,000.
Of this $30,000 sallary he/she gets to keep around $20,000
after income tax since the individual tax is 32%.
Should he or she dare to take out more than about $30,000
the income tax is 50%.
