I went to the dentist...Nightmare!!

[elephant]

So I have bad teeth and about 10 years ago I had all but 3 of my teeth replaced with crowns at a cost of $27,000 and my dental insurance picked up all but $26,000 of it. Last year I needed 2 root canals, one on the bottom and one on the top. I had been having pain like no other in my bottom for a while at the dentist said it was absence and therefore needed a root canal. For the past several months I have had a considerable amount of pain in my lower jaw under my front teeth any my dentist just kept prescribing me antibiotics and pain medicine. So I went to another dentist and had a 3d x-ray and they told me that I have a cyst about the size of a marble growing under the tooth that I had the root canal. The cyst has already broken through the front of my bone, I also have a smaller cyst growing above the tooth in the top of my mouth where I had the other root canal. Apparently, the upper cyst is growing into my sinus cavity and I have to have both removed by surgery Wednesday. Along with removing the cyst, I have to have 4 teeth pulled on the bottom and 2 teeth pulled on the top. All because the root canals I had done was not done correctly. This has happened in a short period of time, approximately 2 months.

I have a fear of the dentist like no other. I have them put me on nitrous to clean my teeth. This will cost me roughly $35,000 and of coarse my insurance will cover $1,000 of it- so generous!

The procedure is like this: Pull all 6 bad teeth, lacerate top and bottom gums, pull back gums to expose the bone, drill into the bone to access cyst. Remove cyst, bone graft in cavity with cadaver bone (gross), sew back gums along teeth line, pack tooth sockets with gauze, prescribe me tons of Dilauded pain meds and send me home. I am not going to be put to sleep for this, apparently my insurance company will not pay for it and the dentist will not let me pay out of pocket for it so he is giving me a pill that will make me really drowsy and sedate me- claims I wont remember it at all.

the absolute worst part about all of this, is that I think I have become tolerant or at least a little bit addictive to pain meds.

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[SkiDevil]

Elephant, you may want to check with your medical insurance company and see if you can file a claim. If the oral surgery is necessary for your health and well being it may be full or partially covered.

That is an extensive and involved procedure.

Best of Luck

[AKDoug]

Elephant, you may want to check with your medical insurance company and see if you can file a claim. If the oral surgery is necessary for your health and well being it may be full or partially covered.

That is an extensive and involved procedure.

Best of Luck

This. Years ago I had an infection diagnosed by my dentist, but cured by an oral surgeon. I didn't have dental, but my medical covered it.

[Hmac]

You should be seeing an oral surgeon, not a dentist.

[Arik]

I don't have dental insurance either. 3 or 4 years ago I had a tooth split in half. I had root canal on that tooth when I was a kid. The dentist pulled it out. This February I started having a toothache and an X-ray showed that a root canal on another tooth that I had as a kid wasn't done properly and a small part of the root still remained. He said it was so small that another root canal might not fix it. He said he can do it and if I had pain he'd refund my money but I'd have to go see a surgeon ....OR.....pull the tooth which is guaranteed to fix the problem. Since I have no dental insurance and the root canal was $1500, or more if I went to a specialist, I opted for the extraction. Now I have a missing tooth on the bottom left and top right!

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[Averageman]

I had something similar except that it was a third set of teeth growing in the front of my lower jaw. Luckily (I dunno about that) they did a similar procedure except the didn't have to remove the teeth that were already in place, they just cut the skin and removed the teeth from my jaw without further problems.
I have good bone density and my teeth have held up well. When I finally had a cracked tooth removed in the back of my jaw it was a 90 minute procedure that included the dentist climbing up in the chair with me to produce the necessary leverage to remove it. The damaged tooth actually broke before it could be removed from my jaw.

[SomeOtherGuy]

1) Don't put this off any longer, things get worse.

2) You absolutely need an M.D. oral surgeon, not just a dentist, and from what you describe you need one with pretty advanced skills. Compare the bio of this doctor http://www.facialsurgeryinstitute.com/dr-frank-farbod/ (I have no relationship with him or the practice) and look for someone whose credentials are similar.

3) As others said, medical insurance will likely cover some or all of this.

4) $35,000 sounds pretty high with or without insurance. That's more than the bill a family member had last year for a 4-day hospital stay and major surgery by a large team of doctors at a prestigious academic medical center. It's outrageously difficult to cross shop on price, but if you can, it should be part of your search for an oral surgeon.

5) I have no experience with this place, but it might be worth a look - they do medical procedures on a fixed price basis (same with or without insurance) and might at least be a reference:
https://surgerycenterok.com/

[dmd08]

Extractions and bone grafting are routine procedures done every day in dental offices. The need for an oral surgeon depends on the true extent of the surgery and the skills and training of the dentist.

A failed root canal does not necessarily mean it was done wrong, although it may.

Why are 4 additional teeth being extracted? Infection from a failed root canal causing neighboring teeth to need extraction is extremely rare in my experience, but not impossible. Are there other factors involved? Periodontal issues or caries?

[HCrum87hc]

I'd definitely look at getting an oral surgeon involved. Not necessarily because I don't think your dentist is qualified, but a lot of times, oral surgery can be filed with your medical insurance instead of dental, and you may have a lot more of the cost covered. If you don't do that, or if that doesn't work out, push your dental insurance company. If this is a medically necessary procedure (sounds like it is), then they should cover a lot more than that.

[elephant]

my new dentist is a periodontics kind of dentist