Hello,
I had a checkup with a new dentist today (I moved and he was highly recommended).
One molar, which has a very large amalgam filling from a previous dentist, has a large crack and discoloration down one side of the tooth. The dentist recommended a ceramic crown (he has some device in his office which can make the crown while-we-wait). The tooth currently does not cause any pain.
The next tooth over also has a very large amalgam filling. The tooth looks healthy, but the filling looks old (its maybe 7 years old), and possibly needs to be replaced. Because of the size of the filling, my dentist suggested a ceramic onlay, noting that replacing with another filling will require
extraExtra strength mylanta calci tabs
Extra strength pain relief bits of tooth removal, and over the next 30 years or so the tooth will slowly get weaker. (i'm still young ;) ) The onlay would last longer and thus help the tooth last longer.
The quoted price was $1200
CADCoronary heart disease per tooth.. The dentist appeared very professional and concerned about conservative tooth repair / long term benefits. Do the above recommendations make sense, and do the prices seem reasonable? Its just that I'm a grad student with poor benefits, and want to be careful before spending so much money
thanks
Jim
the "in the office" machine method is attractive to the dentist for the following reason:
1. no lab fees
2. less schedule time per procdure (1 visit instead of 2)
3. it's fast for the patient also.
4. It is new technology which can help sell dentistry, and justify the high fee.
in my opinion, it is not "better"-- it is "bells and whistles" dentistry to me.
You have been helping me with my onlay issue in the other thread. My onlay was built in the office, I guess by the Cerac machine as well. Do you think that could be the root cause (pun kind of intended)? You have been commenting generically on onlays... now that you know my onlay was built in office, does that add any additional information for you?