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A couple of questions --- cost, flossing, crowns, fillings.

T

Tulipere

Junior member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
18
Location
Seattle
So I've been to the dentist for four visits now since August - first was diagnosis and cost estimate - 8k altogether. 2 crowns, a multitude of fillings, potentially gum disease requiring scaling and planning but the hygienist wants to wait and see after a couple of cleaning visits. Second visit was crown prep. Third was placing the perm crowns. Fourth was getting three fillings on the upper right. I have 3 more visits to go for fillings in the final three quadrants.

Basically I'm spending all my income not going to rent/bills on my teeth each month. Each appointment is like a grand and the final two will be like 1400 each! I'm working my butt off, 50 hours a week between two jobs and it's wearing me down to the point where I think I'm becoming depressed. I will be getting a hefty tax refund in January due to withholding extra from both jobs. Do you think it would be reasonable to ask the dentist to hold off on the bottom arch until January? Or just do the worst one? How much worse can the fillings needed get before then? It's only a month-2months away. None of them are anywhere as bad as the upper back molars that had to be crowned. I don't want to compromise my health by waiting but I'm worried the stress of working this hard will make my health even worse, I'm frazzled all the time and fighting with my boyfriend because I'm constantly exhausted with worrying about the money. A friend might help me with a loan but I'm worried about whether that will work out because I already took out a non-credit based loan from my credit union that I'm also paying back for the crowns.

Another thing --- I missed flossing and brushing for a few days (mostly because of panicking and then drinking too much) and now the past couple days when I floss near my crowns, the floss smells the first couple go arounds or if I use a waterpik the first spray through it smells and then after that it smells fine until the next morning when I floss again. This has been since last night. My gums aren't swollen and my teeth don't actually hurt. I feel bad I messed up on oral hygiene the past couple days, I hope I didn't ruin anything.

Also, my fillings from a couple weeks ago ache a little when I floss or bite down certain ways. It doesn't linger at all. All of these new fillings were for decay up near the arch of the gumline --- is this normal?

Sorry about the word vomit, I'm extremely stressed out.
 
Don't worry about the smell, it'll get better when you're back in the rhythm for your flossing.

The pain is a tough one to diagnose over the internet, can't help you with that, but that kind of aftercare is what you're paying the dentist the big bucks for, get on the phone and ask for an appointment...
 
Don't worry about the smell, it'll get better when you're back in the rhythm for your flossing.

The pain is a tough one to diagnose over the internet, can't help you with that, but that kind of aftercare is what you're paying the dentist the big bucks for, get on the phone and ask for an appointment...
I want to second what Gordon says....for the kind of money that you’re spending on your teeth you have every right to ask for follow up appointment and advice. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions. Remember, you are paying them for a service. If you’re not satisfied with your service tell them.
 
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