My tooth decayed so much that the crown on top broke off

How's the pain?

We need a teeth substitute. Teeth suck.

Bad genes or were you just too lazy? :( I feel you Veelk. I still have some baby teeth at 27 and 4 years ago I lost two (one left one right side, cant be seen immediately but still sucks). Replacement will cost me 8500 Euros so there is that and I didnt want to spend so much immediately. Fortunately my stupid ass was wise for once a few years ago and I did buy extra monthly insurance that will pay about 4000 Euro out of that.

Take care of your teeth from now on! Ask your dentist what you can do for you teeth. Some need different cleanings and in general they should also get profesionally cleaned twice a year.
Most importantely - dont take it out on yourself. Thinking about this all day is not healthy and I experience that myself. Feel hugged dude.

Damn did you not have dental insurance, or that's on top of the $3K?

Did you ask about a payment plan? A lot of times, there's a credit card or something you can get that'll allow you to pay it off over the course of a year or so.

Veelk said:

There is no pain at all, really. I think it was so decayed that the nerves were dead. Idk, I didn't think to ask. It doesn't hurt, so that's all I'm happy about.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

They probably did a root canal with the crown, which I believe means the tooth is effectively dead.

BlueBomberX said:

Did you ask about a payment plan? A lot of times, there's a credit card or something you can get that'll allow you to pay it off over the course of a year or so.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

^ Yeah most places will work with you because they'd rather get the money eventually than have people skip out on them.

Sorry to hear it dude, I'm a little worried this is my future. I keep on top of my teeth these days but the first 25 years of my life were.....spotty to say the least in the dental hygiene department.

inner-G said:

Damn did you not have dental insurance, or that's on top of the $3K?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

An implant, at least in Canada, is not covered by many dental plans because it's purely cosmetic. The anesthesia, etc would be covered by not the actual crown, surgery, and titanium screw.

Sorry to hear OP. That sounds awful. Best of luck.

I need dental work done because my teeth have suffered due to depression. Falling asleep before brushing without meaning to, drinking too much pop, etc.

I think about it all day, every day and keep putting it off. It's really weighing on me. I know I'm being dumb but it's going to cost thousands and I'm afraid to find out.

I didn't have dental insurance for years and only went to a college to get mine checked. They didn't do anything other than check ups and cleanings. I had cavities then, including one that had been filled twice years prior by an incompetent dentist and had fallen out twice.

One of those teeth chipped.

I'm scared

I was depressed and ignored my teeth to the point I lost my left molar altogether. I got it pulled and feel self conscious I'm missing a whole tooth in my mouth, luckily someday maybe I can afford an implant. Especially lucky its not a front tooth.

My right molar needed a root canal. Needless to say I try to take better care of my teeth now.

I had to get a double root canal over the summer without insurance.

I'm pretty sure I get ripped off, but the whole procedure was painless, and the pain was excruciating to the point that i could not sleep. Like I would lie down and it would hurt more than laying up lol.

I got financing through a place called smile generation. Basically a credit card for dentistry work.

ElectricBlanketFire said:

We need a teeth substitute. Teeth suck.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I read a while ago that there is research on using stem cells to regrow teeth, so there's that I guess

Consider getting the bridge. I had a tooth that decayed just like yours and I submitted a claim to the insurance for an implant. The insurance only cover $900 leaving me with a $3000 bill. I opted for the bridge and only paid $300 for it. The fake tooth in the bridge is basically a crown without a tooth under it. There's no real difference in how your mouth looks.

I have very "high horns" in my teeth where the nerves and vessels come up closer to the tooth surface. Any cavities can easily penetrate into the soft bits and require a root canal. I've had 2 so far. I'm also one of those types that has nightmares of my teeth falling out. lol

I hope you get the money for your tooth soon OP. Maybe even land a job with dental insurance.

Veelk said:

There is no pain at all, really. I think it was so decayed that the nerves were dead. Idk, I didn't think to ask. It doesn't hurt, so that's all I'm happy about.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

If you had a crown that means the tooth was dead (canal treatment done before putting a crown on it since it has to be trimmed down to fit the crown. As such the nerves were killed during that process.

That's why it doesn't hurt

Similar thing happened to my upper-right wisdom teeth a week ago where a part of it chipped off, and I'm planning on just having it straight up removed since getting wisdom teeth out is a common thing anyway.

It will suck though, since I got lucky that all my wisdom tooth fully grew out without the impact issues most people have, but the upper wisdom teeth grew out in such a way that they're hard to brush and one of them has decayed badly.

Ah well, atleast my bottom ones are fine.

Veelk said:

No dental insurance.

Problem is that I am already on a payment plan with them for $7000. I had to have wisdom teeth removed, some crowns put on top, and some root canals.

This tooth falling out today is now an ADDITIONAL expense on top of that. Well, they were going to do a root canal on it at first, but they didn't realize how bad the decay was, and now instead of a root canal, I'm getting an implant. That's why it's 3000, not 4000, because the payment for what was gonna be a root canal (1000) is going towards this now.

And whats terrifying is that there is a possibility this might be the case with another one or two of my teeth that they're gonna check out later :(

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that's rough man. I've had my share of problems with this stuff as well. I had my wisdom teeth out two years ago, had a gum surgery last year, in braces as an ADULT this year, and getting a crown replaced (or implant) next year...

Dental problems are awful man, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'd see if there's anything they can do for you... increase the limit on your payment plan if possible.

How did you end up with so many crowns? I have one (right in the front of my mouth) from an accident as a kid where my front tooth was snapped in half.

I'm a dental student.

We do implants at school, usually cheaper. My school is around 1k.

Honestly sounds like you have more pressing issues than cosmetic dentistry. Pay the $300 and have them yank it out.

You can worry about looking pretty once you've salvaged whatever healthy teeth you can.

inner-G said:

Damn did you not have dental insurance, or that's on top of the $3K?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Implants are considered cosmetic which is not covered by insurance for people over 18. I had to pay out of pocket for my Invisalign treatment and still need to do two implants that would run me around 6k out of pocket. Thankfully they're not visible so I'm just wearing my retainers each night to keep them gapped properly

Are you a tooth grinder, OP?

Part of my presistant depressant Disorder is that ill neglect to take care of myself a lot, which includes teeth. I was gifted great teeth genes and they're usually pretty white most of the time. I try to kick myself to do it more, but it's hard to get anything done with low mood every single day. I'd hate to have worse teeth genes.

That's rough, OP. I'm lucky enough to be the only person in my family without any teeth issues but their stories, sheesh.

ElectricBlanketFire said:

We need a teeth substitute. Teeth suck.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Did you know that elephants usually die of starvation because they wear down all their teeth? :(

Damn OP, I'm about to brush my tooth with a root canal a bit more carefully now.

A cleaning, x rays, 2 fillings, removing a crown and replacing with a new one cost a buddy of mine $210 usd in peru lately. I know may not be an option but if you have some vacation time coming up you could literally buy a ticket to peru enjoy a few days and get dental work done and still have it be cheaper than $3000. Of course depending on where you live, but goes for usa and canada mostly. Maybe even checking out mexico depending on where you are.

The same exact thing happened to me two weeks ago and I was freaking out. Sorry to hear OP. I went with the implant and it cost a fortune but the alternative was walking around with a missing tooth so I folded and paid the price.

Really sucks as I brush, floss, and use mouthwash regularly and it still happened. Good luck with the implant.

Veelk said:

Dentist told me that my options are either an implant or a bridge. I went with implant because I want to have a full mouth of teeth, but it's gonna cost $3000 out of pocket. I don't have that kind of money atm. I'm basically gonna have to get a second job.

It's not the worst thing imaginable, there are other stories on this very forum of more serious medical conditions, but it still sucks and I'm feeling terrible that I need implants at 29, let alone the fact that it's gonna cost me more than I have and I have to figure something out.

Take care of your teeth, kids.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Get a payment plan. Also, can we address people as kids?

If you have a dental school in your area, you should look into that. They usually perform procedures for significantly cheaper. Even if you had dental insurance, they don't tend to cover implants (mine doesn't).

I'm in my 30s and have never even had a cavity. I'm very lucky to have had parents that pushed me to have good oral hygeine as a kid and as an adult I'm meticulous. Brush twice w day, floss 5-7 times a week, use a fluoride (non-alcoholic) rinse 3-4 nights a week. No coffee or tea and very rarely soda. I usually just drink water, so whenever I eat, the last thing I do is take a swig of water and give a quick swish around my mouth.

Sorry to hear about your stuff OP. Sounds really awful, to say the least.

Look into payment plans if you haven't already. That may be an option to you.

This thread reminds me that I should take care of my teeth better.

criesofthepast said:

A cleaning, x rays, 2 fillings, removing a crown and replacing with a new one cost a buddy of mine $210 usd in peru lately. I know may not be an option but if you have some vacation time coming up you could literally buy a ticket to peru enjoy a few days and get dental work done and still have it be cheaper than $3000. Of course depending on where you live, but goes for usa and canada mostly. Maybe even checking out mexico depending on where you are.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

The issue with medical tourism is theres no backup plan if something goes wrong then and there or later down the line. I need a shit ton of work done, what do I do if I then go to a regular dentist in the US after doing work internationally and they go "what the hell did you do?"

passepied joe said:

Did you know that elephants usually die of starvation because they wear down all their teeth? :(

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

No :/

Nothing wrong with getting an implant at your age.
You could also just get a root canal/filling, if you want to pay $600 instead of $3000. You can get the bridge/implant later.

Soda said:

I'm in my 30s and have never even had a cavity. I'm very lucky to have had parents that pushed me to have good oral hygeine as a kid and as an adult I'm meticulous. Brush twice w day, floss 5-7 times a week, use a fluoride (non-alcoholic) rinse 3-4 nights a week. No coffee or tea and very rarely soda. I usually just drink water, so whenever I eat, the last thing I do is take a swig of water and give a quick swish around my mouth.

Sorry to hear about your stuff OP. Sounds really awful, to say the least.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I'm sure this will help OP a lot!

Just had an implant screw placed. Its not too bad of a process and the hefty price tag will be worth it to have full mouth function eventually.

If you can get this get it, a definitely must have

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L...UTF8&qid=1541122249&sr=8-12&keywords=waterpik

_ifigured said:

Just had an implant screw placed. Its not too bad of a process and the hefty price tag will be worth it to have full mouth function eventually.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Does it hurt?

Nerdyone said:

Get a payment plan. Also, can we address people as kids?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Nope, some of us are not kids here.

Last time I went to the Dentist, the dude kept making passive aggressive remarks about my teeth. Makes me not want to go back.

Yea I get it I dont floss, stop treating me like some invalid.

Brush and floss, everyone.

Sorry about your teeth problems op. :(

Ingueferroque said:

Does it hurt?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Sore for a week after, its been two weeks and it no longer hurts at all. During the implant procedure, I was fully numb but could still feel a weird sensation while the screw was going into the jawbone. It was no worse than an extraction, pain-wise.

inner-G said:

Damn did you not have dental insurance, or that's on top of the $3K?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Typically dental insurance doesn't cover implants.

I know the feels, I lost a tooth at age 16 since my family rarely had dental and no one wanted to schedule an appointment for me. I got my tooth pulled/root canal after I woke up with immense dental pain.

Taco_Human said:

I was depressed and ignored my teeth to the point I lost my left molar altogether. I got it pulled and feel self conscious I'm missing a whole tooth in my mouth, luckily someday maybe I can afford an implant. Especially lucky its not a front tooth.

My right molar needed a root canal. Needless to say I try to take better care of my teeth now.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Which left molar? You have 6.

Kayo Police said:

Last time I went to the Dentist, the dude kept making passive aggressive remarks about my teeth. Makes me not want to go back.

Yea I get it I dont floss, stop treating me like some invalid.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Find a new dentist. I would try to find one that graduated in the last 15 years. There was a conceited effort to improve chairside manner around 2000. There is definitely an old school vs new school dentistry. New docs tend to be more concerned with your well being as well as your dental health and want to build a personal relationship.

jb1234 said:

If you have a dental school in your area, you should look into that. They usually perform procedures for significantly cheaper. Even if you had dental insurance, they don't tend to cover implants (mine doesn't).

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Doubtful implants would be done on the cheap. The implant itself is costs dentists close to $3k just to purchase. There is very little margins in implants and schools are gonna hemerage money.