Dental Work Followup

I had to cheap out on my dental work. Turns out I only paid $45 for two fillings. What? Well unfortunately I sought a second and third opinion today, and both dentists agreed that I did not need three crowns. I did need one crown, but neither had time to do it. And I was having an incessant toothache so one of the dentist instead just did a filling as a stop-gap mesure. Sure it won't last forever, but at least I'm out of pain until I can get an appointment and approval from the insurance to do the crown.

So both dentists agree that I should replace my original crown, although it might be the fault of my 1st dentist. Last year when my crown fell out, a different dentist at the practice in an emergency glued it back in. She did not tell me that it was not fitting well, nor did it appear in my dental records before as needing to be replaced. I got my records (grudgingly) and showed them to the second and third opinion dentists. Both agreed that it was probably due to her incompetance that I need to replace my crown.

Also both dentists said that the 3rd crown was utter lie, because neither could even see a need for a filling. Thus I paid $45 for two fillings (one of which was absolutely necessary), and $25/piece for a second opinion.

Money well spent I think to preserve my teeth and my pocketbook. Initially I was going to pay over $3-4k for the dental work suggested by the 1st dentist.

What I've learned? Get a second opinion even if your original dental office is pissed at you. Screw them, they are in it for the money. Don't just open your wallet and pay. Be careful, you only get one set of teeth. Having them drill it down is not cool! Instead consider not only the costs but the reality of not having your teeth.

So now with DH switching dental insurance, I have to figure out which dentist I really trust. I don't feel as though I've found anyone I really like. I think I'll ask for more references. The two second opinions were okay, but I hated the office staff at both places. They were super rude and the wait was horrible.