State of the art dental work

Old Geek

Old Geek

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I cracked a tooth last week and went to my regular dentist. She confirmed the crack and the need for a crown but didn't have any openings until next month. I asked her if she knew of anyone who could fix me up sooner. We had talked about the new tech that lets a dentist fabricate a crown while you wait and she offered to call another dentist that does that.

He got me in the next day. The process was just amazing. He scanned my cracked tooth with a camera and computer, which built up a 3D image in real time. He also scanned the teeth on either side and on top. Then he did the usual prep word of shaping the tooth to receive the crown. Then he scanned the shaped tooth. The computer munched and crunched for a few seconds and produced a beautiful 3D image of the crown. He did a little bit of tweaking, selected the proper crown material and started the little milling machine in the back of his office. It took about 10 minutes to cut the crown, another 10 minutes to fire it hard in a kiln and then 5-10 minutes for him to touch it up and polish it.

He showed it to me and it was awesomely beautiful. He snapped it in and and it fit perfectly. He took it out, put the adhesive on it and put it back in. He did a little bit of polishing, took and x-ray and was done. Two hours start to finish. I was very, very impressed.
 
Impressive. Can I ask what the tab for it was? I had a crown from a dentist in a networking group I was in that cost me about $1,400. The next time I needed one I shopped around, making it clear to them I was paying cash. Found a great dentist who did it for $750.
 
LDJones said:
Impressive. Can I ask what the tab for it was? I had a crown from a dentist in a networking group I was in that cost me about $1,400. The next time I needed one I shopped around, making it clear to them I was paying cash. Found a great dentist who did it for $750.
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:yes:
 
Used to be dentists were required to be artists. In fact, one of the old dental school admission tests was to carve a piece of chalk. The computer crown is the wave of the future.
 
Plus, there are so many dentists out there you can negotiate the prices -

After 45 years of fixing fillings- I need 2 crowns in the very back of my mouth. SoI will get sedation - I also know that my dentist has this computer to make them there - so it will be single visit. He charges basically $1500 a tooth -the insurer will only pay based on a $950 price - and half of that - so $475 a tooth and initially refused to pay for sedation but they screwed up the location of the two crowns - and I got them to pay 100% of that. Then I asked the dentist why they charged $1500 when the Reasonable and Customary according to the carrier was $950 in the area. Without batting an eyelash they matched the price - saved me $1000 by simply asking.

State of the art dental work is ok - but I still hate it. I am one of those guys with great gum health but my teeth always been really bad. . .
 
48 have all my teeth, never had a filling, never had a tooth pulled and never had a shot of novacain in my mouth anyway. Teeth are fairly straight. One of the few genetic lotteries I managed to win. :D

ETA: and fortunately my kids have nice straight teeth and no cavities so far at 16 and 20.
 
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DFH65 said:
48 have all my teeth, never had a filling, never had a tooth pulled and never had a shot of novacain in my mouth anyway. Teeth are fairly straight. One of the few genetic lotteries I managed to win. :D

ETA: and fortunately my kids have nice straight teeth and no cavities so far at 16 and 20.
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Give it time. You're still a young'n
 
DFH65 said:
48 have all my teeth, never had a filling, never had a tooth pulled and never had a shot of novacain in my mouth anyway. Teeth are fairly straight. One of the few genetic lotteries I managed to win. :D

ETA: and fortunately my kids have nice straight teeth and no cavities so far at 16 and 20.
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Usually those of us who don't have cavities instead are "blessed" with gum disease later in life. Especially if we have a tendency to produce lots of plaque.
 
I go to the dentist periodically -- about once every 20 years. So with that time gap, the changes are amazing. I was in last month for a crown. In and out the same day. Fit perfectly. He and his assistant used all sorts of miniature gadgets, cameras, and computer software.

One tooth down, 13 more to go (mostly to replace old fillings that are deteriorating with crowns).
 
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