+2 for what ckelly said. Pull the molar and forget about it. Most people have most or all of their molars pulled. I don't miss mine. I'm having my second implant done starting next week but no molar implants. Just throwing money at the dentist. They try to sell the most expensive stuff. I also second the motion that you negotiate the cost. I routinely get 15% for cash; no card.

My friend is having two implants done. It will cost about $7000 and insurance will pay $2000. We saw an ad on TV for "Same day implants" and we had a good laugh, as her procedure is going to take 6 months. I checked on line and there are several web site names with "One day implants" or "Same day implants" in the title but nothing about it on the sites themselves.

I'm in favor of talking cash to negotiate a discount.

Had an $1100 bill for a crown, cash price, less than 800!

Go on vacation and have it done in Costa Rica, etc.

Never did it myself, but have heard its cheap and it's a vacation.

Speaking of cash, I have an high-deductible health plan with an HSA account. I put in $75 per paycheck, which covers my $1800 annual deductible and I can barely use $500/yr in misc. med. expenses. If we wanted to ask for a cash discount, can I take $1200 out of my HSA debit account via an ATM? Never even thought about using it to get cash, but every time I pay with it and enter my PIN, the machine asks if I want cash back.

Regardless of what she decides on the molar, make the decision from the context of her whole mouth. Is this the only problem, or does she have 10 other things going on? Make sure not to focus solely on the molar, and don't spend your savings heroically trying to restore one space when the money might be better spent fixing a whole bunch of other minor problems. On the other hand, if she has otherwise perfect teeth, if might make sense to go ahead and fix it.

Secondly, the molar location itself can have an impact. Extracting a lower molar can cause the upper teeth to extrude and if it is a first molar, the second molar might tilt over time. This doesn't really happen quick, but over 20 years or so, the upper teeth can erupt to the point they get into trouble and the lower second molar tilts so bad it gets perio and then one or all of them have to come out. On the other hand, losing a maxillary second molar won't lead to that kind of domino effect, so the different molars can have different long term ramifications. This also depends on her age. If she's 30, this can be a real problem down the road. If she's 80, don't sweat it.

The other issue is why the molar cracked. If it was due to decay, there might be other things to fix (see above). If she grits her teeth to the point where she cracks them, she will crack more down the road, in which case the implant might make sense to keep additional pressure off of other teeth. The fact that she is not in pain makes me think this is a decay problem over grinding/clenching/ split tooth, but it is something to take into consideration.

Finally, looking again at the whole mouth, there is an old saying in dentistry "twenty is plenty"- meaning that people can do okay without molars, however, there is a caveat. For example, if the front teeth are in perfect shape, they might do fine, however, if the front teeth are broken down or covered by crowns, veneers,or big old fillings, then the added forces from chewing everything with only your front teeth (because no molars are present) can trash any anterior dental work prematurely.

It all depends on the big picture. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

A few things. They will have to give her a Z pack (Azithromax) to get the swelling down. Then she'll have to go through the whole implant process, which could take awhile.

If she ignores it, I can guarantee that her horrendous pain will start at 5:45 on a Friday night after all the dental offices have closed for the weekend.

Have you thought of South of the border treatment? A lot of people I know and a few Canadians I've talked to go that route and have nothing but good things to say about their treatment. Might be worth looking into since you are in Az.

Thanks for that very informative post, Leakyseal. She's 34. I'm not aware of problems with other teeth, but know she's had trouble with this one since she was a kid in China. She said she had something done to it in VA about 10 yrs. ago, but that was just before I met her and I don't recall what it was. She really wants rid of this tooth once and for all. I just hope she does something about it before the pain starts. I don't know how long she has, but money will be her last concern if that kind of pain starts.

Send a PM to nickshu. He's a periodontist and was a big help to me last year. Knows what he's doing and will shoot you straight.

For anybody who is interested. I had a couple of implants done recently at a university dental school, USC. It was arranged by my dentist who had connections. The price was about half of what a private dentist charges. I paid about $4,000 for two two of them, everything included. But it takes a lot longer and many more visits. All visits were a very pleasant experience with very close faculty supervision and hands-on work by the experts themselves when necessary.

Don't watch Marathon Man together anytime in the near future....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1414526605.jpg

Yea, there was a thread on Pelican not long ago about a young man that was near death and in intensive care with slim odds of living because he ignored a abscessed tooth too long. It is NOT something to put off.

What sort of guarantee does a US citizen get going with TJ dental work?

What kind of guarantee do you get going with US dental work?

I've never heard of a dentist giving a warranty.

None.... which is the same guarantee you get from work done by a Dentist in the US

I had a root canal on a molar #19 a post and crown placed... around a year later was experiencing pain in the area of the tooth that had the root canal...Went back to the Dr who did the original root canal.... He said "looks like you cracked a root .

"go get a bridge or an implant"

"We can do than in our office Dr XX does that $5K"

Went to another Dentist.....she just said I had a problem from a failed root canal.. but would not commit to the root of the problem..

Unless you want to pay huge bucks for litigation, you will receive no guarantee on work your Dentist does.....

I've found in my recent experiences with Dentists is that the up-sell is very strong..

However my mother went to Costa Rica a few years ago and spent close to $6K on dental work..... which her NYC dentist proclaimed was top notch work...

With all due respect, a mouth isn't a "Static" situation.

Just because your root canal failed doesn't necessarily mean the work was bad.

You can't get your valves done on your car and get mad at the valve job 15,000 miles later if you throw a rod. Etc.

Yep I'm still here. I find the obsession with price and no discussion on quality of care or training of the surgeon and restorative doctor disturbing. As a specialist I am challenged daily with redoing cases done by discount shops and/or south of the border using "generic" implants and outsourced unregulated overseas made abutments and crowns resulting in failures with sometimes significant morbidity. Tread cautiously. Be wary of "discount" dental implant care in the same way as you should be wary of "discount" heart surgery. No one wants to do this twice.

Gogars comments above are right on.

Feel free to PM me with questions.

With all due respect to Nick, I know lots of people living in San Diego who have gone to TJ for dental work. It seems you roll the dice no more there than on this side of the border. I took a girl friend of mine there for some work maybe 30 years ago. She had a couple of teeth capped/crowned (whatever it was - terminology?). The price at that time was $90 each compared to $300-$400 north of the border. The difference was the dentist was the only person in the office - no assistants, receptionists, or anybody else. He'd work for a time & take a break to drink a cup of coffee & read a magazine and return to continue. I noticed a few years later he'd opened an office on this side of the border in a fairly affluent part of town. I imagine he went the whole route with support staff and was making the big bucks. Actually out of all of the people I've known who have had work done there, I can't think of anyone who has had a problem, although I'm sure that happens.

One of the most trying issues in my life......a cracked tooth. Killed my exercise regime and I STILL have issues a year after it was pulled. Was pulling splinters and pieces out of my gum for six months.